Three more Sounders receive green cards

Xavier Arreaga, João Paulo and Nouhou will no longer count as internationals.

As expected, Xavier Arreaga, João Paulo and Nouhou have all received their green cards and will no longer count as international players, the Seattle Sounders announced on Tuesday. Sounder at Heart had previously reported that the Sounders were working toward this outcome with all three players.

The moves leave the Sounders with four unoccupied international roster spots, even after previously trading one to FC Dallas for $250,000 in General Allocation Money. The Sounders had opened that spot when they traded Brad Smith to D.C. United for $750,000 in a previous trade.

Abdoulaye Cissoko, Léo Chú and Yeimar Gómez Andrade are the three remaining internationals on the Sounders roster.

With 28 players under contract on the first team, the Sounders actually have more open international roster spots than space to add them. With most teams’ rosters reasonably set now, the Sounders are most likely to hold onto those international spots until the summer when they’ll either use them or trade them. Those spots have been trading for $200,000-$250,000 in GAM.