Sounders Trade for DC United MF Caden Clark, Loan Osaze De Rosario to Denmark
DC United midfielder Caden Clark (30) at Empire Polo Club. Mandatory Credit: William Navarro-Imagn Images
The Seattle Sounders made one more move to close out the summer 2026 transfer window as it expired Wednesday afternoon, trading for 23-year-old DC United midfielder Caden Clark, as first reported by Niko Moreno of Sounder at Heart. The Sounders ship out a 2028 Superdraft second-rounder and pick up a contract for Clark with wages of over $400,000 this season and a club option for the 2027 sprint season and ensuing 2027-28 season.
Clark, who spent a season in the German Bundesliga three years ago, has played just seven games for United and has floated all over MLS since he started his pro career at 16 years old. He played a central attacking midfielder position primarily for DC last season, but should figure into the winger conversation in Seattle.
That’s because GM Craig Waibel and head coach Brian Schmetzer had hinted at the team having more moves in the pipeline after last week's big-name addition of striker Dejan Joveljić from Sporting Kansas City. Waibel had said the team was looking for "speed in the channels" in particular, and reporting from Moreno confirmed the Sounders had a bigger name winger than Clark in mind, but the deal didn’t come to fruition.
Clark had eight goal contributions in just 12 games with the NY Red Bulls II of the USL Championship in 2020 before playing for the first team in MLS for over two seasons, notching 11 goal contributions in 47 games. His performance as teenager earned him a seven-digit transfer to RB Leipzig, but he never saw Bundesliga minutes in the 2022-23 season.
He ended up back in MLS at Minnesota United for 23 games before playing 33 for CF Montreal with 10 goal contributions. After a year and a half in the nation's capital, the 23-year-old joins a Sounders club needing speed and creativity out wide with designated player Pedro de la Vega out for the season.
As a scorer, Clark has shown an ability to smash the ball from distance with show-stopping goals in Montreal and New York. He slots into a Sounders winger situation that could use him at his best.
Paul Rothrock has locked down the left side, while Defiance signee Sebastian Gomez and a newly healthy Jordan Morris compete for minutes on the right. An injured Paul Arriola will figure into this conversation in the coming weeks, while Peter Kingston could also be an option out wide after being forced into the defending midfield on account of injuries.
That said, Gomez and Kingston are the most dynamic wingers Seattle has on the ball. But both are still getting used to this level, and having a winger as well-traveled as Clark could prove essential to Schmetzer as the stakes only get higher from here on out.
Osaze De Rosario to Denmark
The Seattle Sounders officially loaned striker Osaze De Rosario to Danish club Sønderjyske Fodbold on Tuesday for the duration of the season. The deal, first reported on by Niko Moreno of Sounder at Heart, will be through June 2027, but the Sounders possess the right to recall De Rosario this upcoming January. Sønderjyske will have the option to buy De Rosario out at the end of the loan.
With the transfer of Joveljić and Jordan Morris getting back to health with Danny Musovski also lingering, the striker spot became overcrowded in Seattle in a hurry.
The younger De Rosario was the odd man out.
De Rosario, who came up through the Tacoma Defiance, earned himself the starting striker spot at the top of the 2026 campaign after an impressive preseason that featured multiple braces in friendlies.
But after failing to score in four straight starts to begin the season and six starts in the first seven games, De Rosario fell out of favor. He averaged just over 17 minutes in nine straight non-starting games as the spring turned to summer, managing two goals. It's been 12 appearances since De Rosario scored, and the move for Joveljić signaled it was time for the striker to get experience and minutes elsewhere.
“When this came up, we sat down with Osaze and after a good conversation we all agreed that the impact of going to Sønderjyske and playing significant minutes was a great opportunity,” Waibel said in a team release.
De Rosario, a bruising and physically imposing striker with the potential to shine in hold-up situations, earned his place in Seattle after signing with the first team last summer. He scored five goals in 19 games with Seattle last season, four of which coming in the Sounders' Leagues Cup-winning campaign with Morris sidelined. His crowning moment came in the Leagues Cup final, when he scored a header to open the scoring against Inter Miami in a statement 3-0 win.
With a 27-year-old Joveljić set to be Seattle's nine for the long haul, De Rosario's path forward for the Sounders would likely be in coming back to Seattle to replace Morris if the team finds a way to move on for its all-time leading scorer. Morris is signed through 2028 on a DP deal, but has struggled to stay healthy and contribute consistently for two season now.
For now, De Rosario should have a chance to rediscover the form he found in the preseason.