Seattle’s spark plug is back and ready to make an impact this 2025 season.
Signing with the First Team on Aug. 24 of last year, Sounders winger Georgi Minoungou enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2024.
“This year, I have a lot of goals [for myself],” said Minoungou.
After showing promise with Tacoma Defiance over the last two and a half seasons, the Ivory Coast native was given the opportunity to compete with the Sounders side for the latter half of 2024. In 14 of his MLS regular and postseason appearances, he started in four, tallying one goal and an assist for the Rave Green.
“He’s a good young player,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “He only had six months last year, so he will be utilized…He will get some game time.”
There were glimpses of Minoungou’s talent as a substitute in 2024, with his ability to take players on 1-v-1, along with his speed on the flanks. Now, the expectation is for him to turn these moments of flair into something bigger.
“For him to continue, he's got to perform,” said Schmetzer. “He's got to have some final product and then that'll help him stay in the team, stay in the group.”
Whether it involves consistently supplying his teammates with chances in the final third or using his incisive dribbling to create shooting opportunities for himself, the Sounders will need his offensive prowess to come to life on a larger scale with tournaments like the Club World Cup on the horizon.
“You have to have the technical ability to execute on the information and the decision that you make,” said Schmetzer. “So he's got room to grow, for sure, but certainly a dynamic talent.”
The winger is up for the challenge.
“I want to score more goals and create more assists…get faster, and then [focus on] my final decision [making]. That's what I'm trying to improve,” said Minoungou.
Minoungou has come a long way to get to where he is today. From growing up playing only street soccer, to suffering an eye infection that left him visually impaired in 2023, the odds have not been in his favor. Still, through his work ethic and undeniable raw talent, he was able to secure a spot with the First Team.
While his contributions were limited given his late addition to the roster last season, the heavy 2025 schedule will give him more room to showcase what he is truly capable of.
“I think I can [create] more space, more movement, more dribbling skill, and more dynamic stuff on the wing that can lead to a goal and some dangerous plays on the wing,” said Minoungou.
