Mercado's Self-Bet Results in Extension; Diallo Slowly Ramps Up
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Seattle Reign forward Maddie Mercado dribbles the ball during a game against the San Diego Wave on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Jane Gershovich / Reign FC Communications) [/caption]
TUKWILA, Wash. — Ami Diallo, the Seattle Reign's newest forward who joined the team just last Thursday after signing on Aug. 18, was asked who she liked to watch in the NWSL before she entered the league herself. She thought for a moment and named Brazilian legend Marta. Then, quietly, as is her way, she named Maddie Mercado — her new teammate on the Reign enjoying a breakout season in 2026.
Mercado, whose notoriety is far from that of the great Marta, was on loan this time last season with the Carolina Ascent to get more minutes. The 24-year-old from Notre Dame was struggling to get on the pitch, but scored four goals in just six games for the Ascent, leading Seattle GM Lesle Gallimore to recall her ahead of the NWSL Playoffs. In 2026, a 25-year-old Mercado is up to eight goals to lead the team and has made herself irreplaceable as she tracks toward being the first Reign player to score 10 or more goals since the legendary Megan Rapinoe in 2017 (franchise record 12 goals).
But it's quite apparent that no one, even the Reign in their decision to recall her, believed in Mercado more than she believed in herself.
She put a trigger in her last contract through 2026 that would activate a player option in 2027 if she hit a minutes-played threshold this year. With eight games to play this season, Mercado already hit the threshold to push her deal through the 2027 season.
"This year I kind of had it in my mind that I wanted to earn that," Mercado said of the clause after training on Tuesday. "This year really is the first year where people have seen, I think, what I'm really capable of on the field."
Indeed, Mercado had put up just 587 regular-season minutes in her first two seasons combined after being drafted in 2024, scoring one goal in 19 regular-season appearances. As she pushed her appearances for 2026 up to 22 and her minutes to 1,805, Mercado scored her latest goal on Sunday in a 1-0 win over the San Diego Wave in which she leaped over a defender to head in what would be the game-winning score. It was her seventh game in the last 10 with a goal contribution, as Mercado has manned the right wing consistently with Mia Fishel operating at striker.
After Seattle lost one of the best vertical threats in the league in Jordyn Huitema this offseason to Chicago, winger Maddie Dahlien said Mercado's ability to win in the air has been underrated this season. It's certainly provided a target for a Reign team finding its offensive rhythm after shaky points this season — Seattle still has the fourth-fewest goals per game in the league.
For Mercado, the key to unlocking consistent scoring has been in the preparation rather than in confidence.
"Confidence is something that’s fleeting," Mercado said. "It's kind of like happiness, sadness; it's not always there… You have to find ways to be consistent, and that comes through your training.
"My biggest strength as a player is when I'm in and around the box… going from being good at that where I feel like I am now to being excellent at that in the coming years is something that I'm going to continue to strive to do."
Diallo Arrives, Continues to Integrate Into Reign Training
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Seattle Reign forward Ami Diallo addresses media at her introductory availability on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026 at Starfire Sports in Tukwila, Wash. (Qasim Ali / Emerald City Spectrum) [/caption]
Diallo finally arrived in Seattle last Thursday after signing with the team on Aug. 18 from Ivorian side ASEC Mimosas. Gallimore said Diallo had to spend all of Thursday getting physicals done before finding a place to live last Friday. She finally met the team on Saturday before the squad took on San Diego.
Diallo had just been participating in passing drills before Tuesday, before joining the team in game-speed scrimmages on Tuesday. Diallo, 25, brings obvious goal-scoring upside after finishing with 31 goals in the Ivorian Division 1 to finish second in the golden boot race.
"I really wanted to come here and play and show my talent," Diallo said of the top-flight NWSL through an interpreter on Tuesday.
Diallo, meeting media for the first time on Tuesday, came off as a person of few words. Perhaps it was the whirlwind of traveling to a new country and meeting loads of new folks in a short time while not speaking much English, but Diallo kept her answers short and sweet.
“Simple, but good,” she said through an interpreter when asked about her game.
Diallo knows what winning looks like, though.
Mimosas won its second straight league title in 2025-26 while winning the CAF Women’s Champions League in the team’s first time playing in the continental competition. Diallo also represents Côte d’Ivoire internationally, as she helped the nation make WAFCON for the first time this decade in 2026.
For head coach Laura Harvey and Gallimore, bringing on Diallo isn't a time-sensitive play. Harvey didn't have a timeline for when Diallo could slot into the lineup, nor where she would play when she does. The signing was all about betting on the Ivorian forward's upside.
"There was a limited amount of video (on Diallo), honestly. So it was a little bit of a risk," Harvey said of signing Diallo. "Sometimes you have to take a risk."
Harvey went on to say former Kansas City Current coach Vlatko Andovski told her when he signed Malawian national Temwa Chawinga, who went on to win two NWSL MVPs, that the forward could either be a top scorer in the league or a "flop."
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Harvey talked about former #USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski saying now 2X #NWSL MVP Temwa Chaŵinga could be “one of the best goal-scorers in the league or she’s gonna be a a flop” when she signed with KC.#ReignFC hoping to be proven right on Ami Diallo.@EmeraldSpectrum pic.twitter.com/crXFjlC6Lk— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) September 8, 2026
That stuck with Harvey, who has seen international players like Jess Fishlock take off to be iconic pieces of her franchise.
Still, it's going to be tough for Diallo to simply happen into a spot on a revitalized Seattle attack.
Last year's leading scorer, 20-year-old Emeri Adames, has been effectively boxed out of the offense this season as Maddie Dahlien, Mercado, Sally Menti and Mia Fishel have controlled the minutes. Off the bench, Seattle consistently rolls with Fishlock, Nerilia "Coco" Mondesir, Holly Ward and Brittany Ratcliffe. Diallo will have to crack that rotation to get minutes before the season ends, and that’s after she gets her legs under her in adjusting to the new digs.
Still, Harvey likes her new forward's upside.
"We all see how (Chawinga) panned out," Harvey said. "That's what we're manifesting over here too."
