Blaise Nkufo, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado Receive Green Cards

Apparently, Steve Zakuani wasn't the only Sounders player to receive his green card this month. The Sounders website just reported that Blaise Nkufo, who has only been in the country since July, and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado have also been given green cards.

TUKWILA, Wash. — Fredy Montero has become the third designated player of the Seattle Sounders FC after signing an extension with the team. The Sounders announced the deal on Wednesday. He joins Alvaro Fernandez and Blaise Nkufo as Seattle's designated players. Montero, 23, has been the Sounders' leading scorer each of their first two seasons.

TUKWILA, Wash. — Fredy Montero has become the third designated player of the Seattle Sounders FC after signing an extension with the team. The Sounders announced the deal on Wednesday. He joins Alvaro Fernandez and Blaise Nkufo as Seattle's designated players. Montero, 23, has been the Sounders' leading scorer each of their first two seasons.

The Seattle Sounders bought out the rights to Colombian striker Fredy Montero on Wednesday, and secured his services for the long term by making him the club's third Designated Player.

Montero joins Blaise NKufo and Alvaro Fernandez as Seattle DP players, and is the second MLS player in two days to have their contracts graduated to DP status (Real Salt Lake's Alvaro Saborio being the other).

Overlooked in the American World Cup hype was the move by Seattle to sign their young striker Freddy Montero to an extension which also makes him a designated player. Montero, 23, becomes Seattle's third DP, joining Blaise Nkufo and Alvaro Fernandez. More importantly, the signing prevents the young talent and 2009 Rookie of the Year from moving to Europe for more money and allows Seattle to keep their nucleus of talent in tact.

The Houston Dynamo unveiled a new jersey sponsor and a new-look uniform on Tuesday, announcing a five-year deal with Houston-based Greenstar Recycling.

The deal, reported to be worth $12.7 million, includes exclusive jersey naming rights and will make Greenstar Recycling the first founding partner in Houston's new stadium.

The move that has been rumored for more than a week was made official today as the Sounders announced the signing of Swedish midfielder Erik Friberg. He has spent the last four years with Swedish Allsvenskan side BK Hacken, spending time on the left side and in the middle.

"Erik is a player who who brings an honest work rate and flair to our midfield," said Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said in a team release.

Back when Kasey Keller was re-signed, I promised to share some of my interview with Sounders Technical Director Chris Henderson. We mainly talked about the recent signing of Swedish midfielder Erik Friberg.

Most of our conversation was about how he saw Friberg fitting into a team that already seems reasonably well set.