Columbus Crew forward Kei Kamara was in his late teens when Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid first saw him play. A native of Sierra Leone, Kamara now has 52 goals in eight MLS seasons.
This week, the Sounders signed a 17-year-old striker from Sierra Leone that Schmid thinks is further along in his development than Kamara was at the same age.
Victor Mansaray became the fourth Homegrown Player in Sounders FC history, signing with the club after spending the past few months training with the first team. Mansaray is a product of the Sounders Academy and played for the U.S. U-18 National Team last summer.
“He’s a player who shows a good maturity level on the field,” Schmid said. “He’s got good soccer sense, good soccer savvy, and his balance is good. There are obviously still things he can work on. But we felt in talking to him, what his goals were, where he was at academically, and all those things … the right decision for him, especially with (Sounders FC 2) coming along, was to join us.”
Schmid is told that Mansaray will be called up to the U-18 National Team again in the near future. Now with club and international matches on the horizon, Mansaray should see plenty of action in the next couple of years for him to continue growing as a player.
At the club level, Mansaray is already accustomed to the guys that are now officially his teammates. And while he recognizes S2 as a viable option, his goal is to play alongside those teammates at CenturyLink Field as soon as possible.
DeAndre Yedlin will not be around for Mansaray’s early years as a professional, but Seattle’s rightback has taken Mansaray under his wing in the past few months.
Mansaray says he and Yedlin chat in the locker room almost every day. They talk about becoming a pro and listening to the Sounders FC technical staff, who helped Yedlin reach soccer’s biggest stage before he turned 21.
Seattle’s first Homegrown Player signing, Yedlin has been through the journey Mansaray is about to embark on.
“You have to learn from that guy. He’s a great guy,” Mansaray said. “I’m just going to listen to all his advice and try to work through that path.
“Since the first day I stepped in here, these guys have been like family to me. I’m just trying to come out here every day and learn from these guys.”
There’s a reason Mansaray is out there competing against players twice his age in training. He scored 18 goals in his second season with the Sounders Academy U-16s, and over the summer Mansaray helped the U-18 National Team to a first-place finish at the International Tournament of Vaclav Jezek in the Czech Republic.
“He’s a kid for the future,” Sounders forward Clint Dempsey said. “You’ve got to keep working hard and progressing as a player. The future is bright. Being able to be at a young age in this type of environment is only going to help you reach your full potential. So hopefully he takes advantage of that. He’s a good kid, so I wish him the best.”
