English winger Ryan Kent could make his MLS debut on Saturday night when the Seattle Sounders make their first-ever visit to San Diego FC.
The Sounders (1-2-3, 6 points) signed Kent — a free agent after terminating his contract with Fenerbahce in Turkey last fall — to fill a void left by injuries to striker Jordan Morris and attacking midfielder Paul Arriola.
It’s unclear how many minutes the former Glasgow Rangers star could play after going without games since October. However, Kent believes his role for his new club will be an excellent and easy fit.
“To hear the coaches say that they’re looking for an exciting player kind of made me excited in a way,” said Kent, 28. “You go to some places and managers want to prevent you from doing what you want to do as a player. I’m an exciting player. I like to lift bums off seats, I like to dribble, create loads of chances.”
The Sounders certainly need that, having been shut out in half of their league matches and having scored only once in the three games since a 5-2 blowout win over Los Angeles FC.
Meanwhile, expansion club San Diego (3-1-2, 11 points) is coming off its first home victory and a much-needed attacking outburst of its own in a 3-2 triumph over LAFC last weekend.
That explosive play all came before halftime, with the hosts storming out to a 3-0 lead before holding on against 10-man LAFC late.
Onni Valakari scored his second career MLS goal and had an assist, while Alex Mighten added his first in the league. Mexican star Hirving “Chucky” Lozano came on late for his first action since sustaining a hamstring strain in San Diego’s home opener a month ago.
Yet even for the joy and relief of the first home victory in club history, there was a sense among MLS’ 30th team that it should be creating even more danger.
“The challenge for us now is how can we replicate that 40 minutes for 90 minutes?” Mighten told the San Diego Union-Tribune this week. “We’re more than capable. We’ve got amazing players, an amazing style of play. We just need to be relentless.”
–Field Level Media
