Morris expected to join Sounders on Thursday

Seattle Sounders FC has called a press conference to share a “significant club announcement” at 11 a.m. Thursday.

The team gave no indication of the topic, but it is widely assumed to be the official welcome of U.S. national team forward Jordan Morris. The press conference was announced one day after German club Werder Bremen acknowledged that Morris intends to begin his professional career in the United States.

The Sounders’ top brass will be in attendance: owner Adrian Hanauer, general manager Garth Lagerwey, coach Sigi Schmid and sporting director Chris Henderson. The press conference will be held at the club’s downtown Seattle offices, however the event is not open to the general public.

Morris is a native of Mercer Island who played with the Sounders FC Academy and Stanford University. Seattle has acknowledged that it has offered him the largest homegrown-player contract in the history of Major League Soccer.

Seattle also confirmed the Wednesday signing of midfielder Michael Farfan, a 27-year-old veteran of four MLS seasons.

“Michael is a technical player with good feet who I’ve followed for a while now,” Lagerwey said in a club release. “We were interested in signing Michael last year after having him in camp, so we’re happy he was available to add to our roster now.”

After playing collegiately at Cal State Fullerton and North Carolina, Farfan made his MLS debut in 2011 with Philadelphia. He appeared in 82 games over three seasons there and scored four goals. He played one game with Cruz Azul of Mexico’s Liga MX in 2014.

He spent last season with DC United, recording one assist over 17 appearances.

“We’re excited to add an experienced and versatile player like Michael to our roster ahead of our upcoming preseason camp,” Schmid said in the release. “We think Michael can come in and provide experience, depth and competitiveness to our midfield.”

The Sounders will begin training camp Friday by reporting for physicals at Starfire Sports in Tukwila.

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 10:17 PM with the headline "Morris expected to join Sounders on Thursday."