Sounders

Daily coverage of Seattle Sounders FC, MLS and world soccer.

Sounders FC acquired its seventh designated player in franchise history Tuesday, trading for accomplished MLS veteran Shalrie Joseph.

Seattle currently has a full complement of three DPs on the active roster, but general manager Adrian Hanauer gave strong indications on a post-trade conference call that the contract of one of those players could be bought out before the March 2 deadline.

Strong indications are that it could be Christian Tiffert, who has been out for a couple weeks or so with a mysterious injury (calling to mind memories of Freddie Ljungberg before his exit) and isn’t with the team in Tucson.

That would leave the door open for the Sounders to sign a much-desired DP forward either before the primary window closes or in the summer.

Again, here’s a brief look at the team’s DP history so far, which has had varied success…

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Freddie Ljungberg (signed on Oct. 28, 2008 … traded to Chicago on July 30, 2010)
Blaise Nkufo (signed March 4, 2010, arrived July 17, 2010, bought out Mar. 15, 2011)
Alvaro Fernandez (signed July 29, 2010, traded to Chicago on July 27, 2012)
Fredy Montero (re-signed as DP on Dec. 1, 2010 … loan to Millonarios on Jan. 21, 2013)
Christian Tiffert (signed on July 27, 2012 … current)
Mauro Rosales (re-signed on Dec. 13, 2011, classified as DP before 2012 season … current)
Shalrie Joseph (acquired on Feb. 19, 2013 … current)