He is only 18 years old, but his future looks bright so far. Victor Mansaray is a forward for the Seattle Sounders. He wears the #80 jersey for the team. Mansaray was born on February 22, 1997 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. His hometown, however, is Fife, Washington. Mansaray is part of the Seattle Sounders Homegrown Player program, graduating from the Sounders FC Academy into the first team.

Mansaray has played in three games with the Seattle Sounders to date. During theses, he was on the field for a total of 28 minutes. Although he doesn’t have many other stats with the Sounders just yet, he does have some international experience under his belt. He had an impressive 18 goals in 24 games during his second season with the U-16s, which set a team high he should be quite proud of attaining. He also served as captain.

Mansaray stands at 5’11. He weighs 180 pounds. His name is pronounced “MAN sur AY.” He entered the Sounders Academy midseason, but played in 20 games. During those, he was able to score a total of 11 goals. He also started in 11 of those games. He also had the honor of starring in the U.S. U-18 National Team in the Czech Republic in August 2014, earning a solid victory in the experience. He played 106 minutes, some of those during the team’s victory over Hungary.

Prior to moving to Seattle, Mansaray lived in Jamaica. He goes to Fife High School in the same town. The club announced his Homegrown Player Contract on November 5, 2014. He wasn’t eligible to actually play until 2015. Sounders FC Owner and General Manager Adrian Hanauer praised Mansaray’s high quality, deeming him “huge presence in the Academy.” He says that the team is excited to watch him develop further as a player and as a part of the Sounders team. He also said that Mansaray has “tremendous potential.”

Mansaray told the press that it is a dream come true to play for the Sounders. He said that it was the next step in the forward direction for his career, and that he looks forward to playing and practicing hard as he hones in on his skills and becomes an even more focused, skillful player with the aid of the Sounders coaches. He says he really looks forward to improving and that he is “surrounded by the right people.”

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia