Newcastle United confirmed the signing of former Seattle Sounders defender DeAndre Yedlin on Wednesday, moving the Seattle native and former Homegrown star to one of the most well-recognized clubs in England.
Newcastle did not disclose the transfer fee, although it has been reported around £5 million ($6.6M). The Sounders will receive a portion of that compensation money via their initial agreement with Tottenham, which included a sell-on clause in the deal.
The 23-year-old United States international joined Tottenham in early 2015 before spending the 2015-16 English Premier League season on loan to Sunderland. The move to Newcastle is a permanent one.
“Newcastle is such a big and historic club, and I’m excited to have the honour of playing with them,” Yedlin said Wednesday. “Hopefully I can do great things here.
“I’m excited to learn under [manager] Rafa Benitez as well,” Yedlin continued. “He has an amazing resume and I know he will help improve me a lot. … I can’t wait to get started.”
Said Benitez: “In DeAndre we have a player who knows English football well. He has good experience, an attacking mentality, ability and great pace. I think he can do really well for us and will give us good competition on the right.”
Newcastle competes in the Football League Championship, England’s second division. It was relegated after finishing in 18th place in the EPL last season.
Yedlin spent the 2013-14 MLS seasons with the Sounders, appearing in 56 regular-season games. A native of Seattle, Yedlin was a Homegrown Player and came up through the Sounders’ youth academy.
