Charlotte FC ready for Wilfried Zaha era to begin

Wilfried Zaha plans to let his play do the talking.

The former English Premier League standout is set to make his MLS debut Saturday when Charlotte FC opens its season at Seattle.

"I'm not much of a talker -- my thing is I try to lead by example," Zaha said Wednesday in his introductory news conference. "I don't tend to blab and blame and talk about how good I am or what I'm going to do, because you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. The only way I can prove how good I am is on the pitch."

Charlotte (14-11-9, 51 points in 2024) finished fifth in the Eastern Conference last season thanks to the stingiest defense in the league led by MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Kristijan Kahlina.

Charlotte tied for 22nd in MLS with 46 goals, a big reason it brought in Zaha, re-acquired midfielder Pep Biel and traded for Portland midfielder Eryk Williamson.

"Wilfried's performances in the Premier League on the international level speak for themselves," Charlotte general manager Zoran Krneta said. "We are confident he can make an immediate impact in Major League Soccer."

The Sounders (16-9-9, 57 points), who took fourth in the Western Conference, also made offseason moves to reinvigorate their offense.

They acquired forward Jesus Ferreira and midfielder Paul Arriola in trades with FC Dallas and re-signed midfielders Albert Rusnak and Joao Paulo. They're also looking for big things from youngster Pedro de la Vega, who battled injuries throughout last season.

Arriola, de la Vega and Rusnak scored Wednesday as the Sounders opened their international campaign with a 3-1 road victory against Antigua GFC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

"Watching Seattle compete, whether it's the Western Conference final, or a final, or Champions League, or all these other tournaments the one constant variable is always that the Sounders are competing for something," Arriola said. "As a player, I've lived various stages of my career: being a young guy, being a superstar, being a sub, playing for the national team, doing all these different things.

"And the one thing that I really want to do is win something on the club level. And I really do believe that coming here, along with some other additions that have been presented with the team and the current core that Seattle has had for many years, for me, it's just really exciting. I really do think that we can do something special."

--Field Level Media