Joao Paulo is out the door, what now?

On December 3rd at 8:46 PM, Niko Moreno reported that it was a "50/50" chance Joao Paulo returns next season. So with him already having one foot out the door, it begs the question: what to do now? Even if he agrees to lower playing time, that would still mean bringing in a replacement to share playing time with before he replaces him. But do we need to replace him? Are the correct pieces here already to replace him? Can we afford to keep him here and have him help with our transition out of the club? That's what I'm here to find out! 

Joao Paulo, when he came here in 2020, then 2021 and even the role he played in 2022, it's impossible to forget the impact he had on our amazing team. His vision was his strongest asset, allowing him to make interceptions at a very high rate and helped him not only be a highly effective passer but making him skilled at threading the needle or bombing it down the field for a brilliant long ball. Those powerful legs not only made him a great passer, it also made him a threat on offense as you never knew when he could rip a jaw dropping, show stopping long shot. He opened the seasons scoring against Minnesota United in 2021 with a long shot volley that was the goal of the week in week 1. It is a season that ended with him getting MVP votes and making the All-Star team because of his amazing defensive work and 11 assists. While his role in getting us the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League run was crucial, it was in the final where the beginning of the end began. In that crucial 2nd leg vs UNAM, he tore his ACL and was replaced by the youth product Obed Vargas. His comeback was cut short a month later with a back injury. The second in what's been a series of injury after injury that kept him out of a lot of the action for the past 2 seasons. But in his most recent injury spell there was a very noticeable difference most fans noticed, that being in Obed Vargas. We've been hyped about his talent for a while and during his most recent run of starts, it looked like that talent was finally starting to become form, consistently putting great performance after great performance, helping setting up and us through another great playoff run. Not only him, though Cristian Roldan solidified himself as a class #6 that can take care of the midfield for the next season to come. While all of that is great and shows the transition won't be too rocky, there is one problem.  

For years, Vargas was the depth guy: someone to rely on when someone like Paulo or Roldan got tired or injured and did a great job at that. But now that spot is vacated, so who could we get or do we again have a replacement on hand? Another exciting young talent the Sounders have been developing is Reed Baker-Whiting. Someone who made their MLS debut at 16, he's been another frequent sub and while he's been deployed as a defensive midfielder before, he has mostly been on the the left side. Not to mention his play style would be a significant difference, as while he loves to get a tackle in, he also loves to dribble the ball, which would be a bigger problem from that spot. So what other internal options do we have? Another frequent replacement for Paulo and Vargas in Sounders youth academy product, Danny Leyva, who played frequent minutes in 2022 because of injuries. His ability to win aerial duels is impressive and he does get fouled often but he also at the same time does also commit fouls often as well plus while he also likes to shot from long range he's not quite gotten it down yet. Not to mention he doesn't do many things poorly or well and we're used to having midfielders with a lot more character in that role. So if the club doesn't have it then who does? 

Jake Girdwood-Reich last year came to St. Louis SC this year from Sydney FC for a undisclosed fee after a great campaign in Australia. Not only did his club win the Australia Cup, he also made the A-League team of the season for the 2023-24 season. But despite no injuries or any setbacks like that, he played very little for the St. Louis soccer club, only making a total of 12 appearances, mostly substitute appearances and even an appearance for St.Louis II. So his transition to the states hasn't been the smoothest, but he's shown obvious talent. Perhaps after a year of humbling, he'd be ready to accept a more frequent sub role here as a second chance to get back on his feet and carve out a career here in America and become the depth guy for the Sounders for a few years. Someone older who could definitely do the job of a depth guy is 30-year old Norwegian CDM Ole Selnæs. 5 years ago, this beast from not the east was playing Ligue 1 with the historic club AS Saint-Étienne but ever since then, it's a chaotic time for him having 4 different clubs since leaving France and now finds himself back in Norway with Rosenborg BK, the biggest club in Norway. He's getting good playing time, and while it might be a stretch like many players when they're older, he could settle for a happy life saving up his legs and coming off the bench for the Sounders before his career winds down.