Major League Soccer released its list of the top 10 acquisitions of the 2017 season and recognized Seattle Sounders defender Kelvin Leerdam.
The Sounders signed Leerdam on July 1 from Vitesse in the Eredivisie, the Netherlands’ top flight. Leerdam, 27, immediately helped turn around Seattle’s season.
Filling a right back role that was inconsistent for the first part of the year, Leerdam started and played all but six minutes during Seattle’s final 14 regular season and two postseason matches. The Sounders allowed only eight total goals in those 16 games and went 8-2-6. Seattle also went more than two months without a loss since Leerdam debuted on July 19.