Revs Ink Okoli Following Trade w/ Seattle

By Brian O'Connell
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Updated: January 19, 2015

Photo credit: soundersu23.com

Days after acquiring him from the Seattle Sounders for a second-round pick, the New England Revolution signed second-year striker Sean Okoli to a deal on Monday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, per league policy. Okoli’s guaranteed compensation figure for 2014 was $48,750.

Minutes before it was scheduled to make its first pick at Thursday’s SuperDraft with the 33rd overall pick, the Revolution brokered a deal with the Sounders that sent the selection to Seattle for future considerations. Shortly after the trade, it was revealed that the Revolution had netted Okoli’s rights to complete the deal.

I'm very excited to start the next chapter of my career in New England with the Revolution. It's an honor to be able to get this opportunity

— Sean Ugo Okoli (@AskAboutUgo) January 17, 2015

The Sounders used the 33rd overall pick to select Northwestern goalkeeper Tyler Miller, who subsequently turned down the opportunity to join the Supporters’ Shield winning side in order to sign a deal with German fourth-division side SVN Zweibrücken.

Okoli, 21, played in three games with the Sounders last season, all as a substitute. He was signed by the club to a Homegrown Player contract prior to the start of the 2014 season.

The addition of Okoli gives the Revolution much-needed depth up top, where Charlie Davis listed was the lone forward on the roster. Striker Jerry Bengtson was loaned to Belgrano (Argentina) last summer, while Patrick Mullins (expansion draft), Tony Taylor (expansion draft), Dimitry Imbongo (trade) and Geoffrey Castillion (trade) all departed last month.

Okoli is a pure forward, and has the size (6-1, 182lbs.) of a target striker. He scored a team-best nine goals during his junior year at Wake Forest in 2013, and finished his NCAA career with 24 goals.

The Homegrown product spent much of the season with the Sounders Reserves, where he wasn’t shy to showcase moments of brilliance. He scored twice and added an assist in a 5-1 rout of USL-PRO side Arizona United SC on Aug. 25, 2014.

However, Okoli is remains largely unproven at the top-flight level after only seeing a total of 19 minutes with the Sounders last season. Okoli subsequently had his option declined at the end of the season.

With Okoli in the fold, the Revolution roster stands at 20.