Fredy Montero: Forever a Sounders legend.

Before Raúl Ruidíaz became our all-time top scorer it was a different South American striker who Sounders fans will never forget. That man being of course the super Colombian Fredy Montero who was there from the beginning in the 2009 season and we'll go into his time with the Sounders today.

Montero began his legendary career with Colombian side Deportivo Cali at the age of 6. And Deportivo Cali is one of Columbia's biggest clubs. With 10 Categoría Primera A titles in total and 14 runner-up finishes making them tied 4th all time for most Columbian top division titles. Meaning this is a incredible opportunity most Columbian's wished to have and a opportunity Fredy Montero took advantage of. Making his pro senior debut in 2005 only at the age of 18 and totally unbelievable he actually wasn't good enough to start of 1 of the best clubs in Columbia. So he was sent on loan to Academia F.C. which was a brand new club in 2005.

He struggled at 1st in the Primera A tennising between Deportivo Cali and 2 different loans to Atlético Huila a fellow Primera A club in 2006 and 2007. For 2006 between the 2 clubs he had 19 total appearances but only 1 goal but 2007 would be his breakout season. He started out struggling with Deportivo Cali with 17 appearances but only 3 goals but it would be Atlético Huila that brought out the best in Fredy Montero for the very first time. As in 22 appearances with Atlético Huila in 2007 and scoring a noticeably better 13 goals, more than enough for him to earn a permanent starting spot at Deportivo Cali for 2008. Where he continued the goal scoring as in 38 appearances he scored 19 goals and now had been the top scorer in 2 different competitions being the top scorer in both the 2007 Torneo Apertura and 2008 Torneo Finalización. And so Montero being ambitious wanted more.

In 2009 the Seattle Sounders got the Columbian magic man on loan from Deportivo Cali with reports saying that Montero's contract was owned by a third-party. Those reports were all unconfirmed though but it is very common for South American or non European players to have third parties take parts of the contracts and often overcomplicate things. His MLS debut was the Sounders MLS debut that being March 19th 2009, against New York Red Bulls, and scored the first and third goals in clubs MLS history. And became the the Sounders 1st ever MLS player of the week for the brace to open the season. An additional goal against Real Salt Lake helped Montero be named MLS Player of the Month for March 2009 as he won the first two Goals of the Week. And his 2009 season was very successful having 12 goals and 5 assists in 27 appearances which was enough to earn him tons of accolades. Like being selected to the 2009 MLS All-Star Game against Everton the blue side of the Merseyside Derby alongside teammates Kasey Keller and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. He would go on to be named the MLS Newcomer of the Year as well.

And in a situation that perfectly parallels 1 we're currently having with Jesús Ferreira, our brand new Columbian-American acquisition. When Montero said in his interview with Sports Illustrated Fredy Montero said that he would like to play in Europe in the future and that the mix of players in MLS appealed to him as a place to learn. But he showed dedication to that learning process when he turned down a move to Fulham, a very smart career decision. And it was announced in August 2009, it was incorrectly reported that MLS had negotiated the transfer ofDeportivo Cali's portion of Montero's rights to Major League Soccer but that was false and instead the Sounders had Montero on loan for 2010 again. He started out the year slow and by the 9th game of the year he was on the bench. But he used this as motivation to work harder to turn his season around and he did. In July the Columbian striker was named 2010 MLS Player of the month. He was selected to the MLS All-Star game for 2010 but was unable to make the game. Because a scheduling conflict between a team CONCACAF Champions League match and the game made him unable to start in the exhibition game. In 29 appearances he scored 10 goals and had 5 assists in the MLS in 2010 and scored 6 game winning goals in all competitions that season. And for 2010 he was named as the top player in the MLS "24 Under 24" list, which honors players under 24 years old who perform well in MLS.

And in the 2010 off-season Sounders fans heard the best news they could've heard when the Sounders announced that Montero transferred to the club and Major League Soccer. He became the third Designated Player and the highest paid player on the team with a base salary of $500,000. He came back from a wrist injury on the third game of the season wearing a cast for his wrist. He'd be named the Player of the Tournament for the US Open Cup as his 3 game winning goals in the quarter-final, the semi-final, then the final led the Sounders to a US Open Cup victory for 2011. He also stepped up his playmaking in 2011 with a career high 9 assists in the 2011 MLS season to go alongside a impressive 12 goals in 27 appearances meaning he had 19 total goal contributions in 27 games almost a goal contribution a game. And he had 18 goals total in all competitions in 2011 the most goals in total of any MLS player that season.

For 2012 Montero continued improving scoring a career high 13 goals in 33 appearances along with 6 assists and he thought that it would be the perfect high to end his Sounders career on originally. After a loan back to Columbia with Millonarios he then went to 1 of this most historic clubs in Europe and biggest in Portugal, Sporting CP. He had a successful stint there having 24 goals in 55 appearances in his first 2 seasons there. In 2016 he got on the Chinese Super League train a bit late spending a season with Tianjin TEDA before returning to the MLS with the... Vancouver Whitecaps FC. In the middle of his time in the great north he was loaned back to Sporting CP and helped them win a the 2017-18 Taça da Liga while scoring nine goals across all competitions, including five in the UEFA Europa League.

Then in 2021 the king had officially returned having previously shown interest into doing so. With his services being really in need at the time as Jordan Morris was injured when he returned to the club. And in April he passed Clint Dempsey and became the clubs all-time top scorer. He preformed super well against our rivals scoring 2 goals in our oh so satisfying 6-2 destruction of the Portland Timbers and then 2 assist against his old club the Whitecaps. He scored 7 goals and had 3 assists in 29 appearances (15 starts, 14 off the bench) for the Sounders in 2021. In 2022 Fredy Montero was a major help in the Sounders achieving their greatest accomplishment yet., winning the Concacaf Champions League. As in 7 games he scored a total of 3 games almost a goal per game as the Sounders made history becoming the 1st ever MLS club to win the Concacaf Champions League.

After a 2023 that saw him score 1 goal and 2 assists in 17 games he decided to go back on the road and try and find a new home and his new home would be a old home actually. Returning to Deportivo Cali his boyhood club for 2024. Where he currently he has 7 goals in all competitions and I hope he finds his return home purposeful. Thanks a bunch for reading.