College soccer's brightest star is finally ready for the next level.
Goal.com reported on Monday morning that Stanford striker and US national teamer Jordan Morris is ready to turn pro, and is likely to sign a historic Homegrown Player contract with his hometown Seattle Sounders.
Morris, 21, just led the Cardinal to the 2015 national championship as a junior, scoring two goals in a 4-0 thrashing of Clemson in the College Cup final in Kansas City on Dec. 13. A finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded to college soccer's top player later this month, Morris has earned first-team All-American honors for two years running and scored a career-best 13 goals for Stanford in 2015.
Multiple outlets have stated that Morris is the subject of interest from professional clubs in Germany and other points abroad. But the Goal.com report claims that he's close to agreeing a deal with the Sounders that would make him the highest-paid Homegrown Player in MLS history.
The versatile attacker is a favorite of USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who made him the first college player to join the US senior squad in some two decades when he called him up in 2014. Morris has since become a regular, earning seven caps and scoring one goal.
He made his first World Cup qualifying appearance in November as a substitute in the USMNT's 6-1 win over St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and has also been a central figure in the US U-23s' Olympic qualifying campaign, which concludes with a do-or-die two-legged playoff vs. Colombia in March.
After Stanford's College Cup triumph, Klinsmann told the media that it was time for Morris to step up to the pro game.
“Now comes a big moment for Jordan Morris. He has to decide what is his next step. His next step obviously has to be becoming a professional," he said.
“From our standpoint, it's very, very important that he chooses an environment where he gets to play,” Klinsmann added. "He needs to play in order to be in a good position to be a continuous part of the national team program, and also the Olympic team that will hopefully qualify for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro at the end of March.”
