Jordan Morris made waves last month when he decided to turn pro and sign with the hometown Seattle Sounders. Goal USA's Ives Galarcep looks at what lies ahead.

CARSON, Calif — When Jordan Morris finally made the decision to join the Seattle Sounders rather than sign with German club Werder Bremen, he sent a text from Germany to Sigi Schmid in Seattle. It was a message soccer fans in Seattle had been anxiously awaiting. Unfortunately, the nine-hour time difference between Germany and Morris' hometown meant Schmid was asleep, and didn't receive the message until the next morning.

Schmid did eventually receive that message, and Sounders fans were soon breathing a collective sigh of relief at not having lost the club's most promising homegrown prospect since DeAndre Yedlin to Europe. Two weeks after making that decision, Morris begrudgingly admits that, while he feels he gave the Werder Bremen trial a chance, he was leaning heavily toward signing with the Sounders before he went to Germany.

"Maybe I was leaning that way, but I definitely went into (the Werder Bremen trial) with an open mind," Morris told Goal USA. "I was like 'I want to try this, and if I really love it I'll come over here.' When I was over there it was a great experience, but I really felt like, for me, right now it was better to play at home.

"I loved it in Seattle and new the team and it was a great option, but I wanted to explore my options and make my decision with a clear conscience, knowing that at least I tried it (in Europe)."

Morris' decision didn't appear to go over very well with Werder Bremen, with the club's CEO, Thomas Eichin, telling German outlet Bild that Morris' decision to sign with the Sounders rather than Werder Bremen was down to him being "homesick." The connotation implied Morris couldn't hack it being away from home, but Morris believed it was simply about feeling like Seattle was a better fit.

"I don't know if homesick is the right word. It was definitely about a comfort level," Morris said. "It was just a very different environment, and I know what the environment in Seattle was like and I felt like that was where I wanted to start my career."

Morris has yet to join his new club team, as he takes part in U.S. national team camp. He made his latest appearance for the U.S. in Sunday's 3-2 win against Iceland, and will be competing for more minutes in Friday's friendly against Canada.

After that, Morris will join the Sounders and prepare for his first season as a pro. As the highest-paid homegrown player in MLS history, Morris will have plenty of expectations in his first season, and Schmid has let it be known he plans to use Morris quite a bit this year.

"The expectations are that he's going to contribute to our team. How that's going to work in terms of the rotation, in terms of how many minutes, I can't predict that now," Schmid said when Morris signed. "He's definitely going to see significant minutes. It gives us an option to certainly possibly platoon a little bit, and rest guys. At times last year we had to play guys to the point of wearing them out, and I think that contributed to some injuries, so it's going to help.

"You give a player as much as he's able to devour, and I think he's a player with a big capacity," Schmid said of Morris. "The more he goes out there, and the more comfortable he feels, the more (playing time) he'll get."

Morris won't just walk into the starting lineup for the Sounders. Not with stars Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey at forward, and not with Nelson Valdez also in the mix for minutes. The Sounders appear ready to use more of a 4-3-3 formation this year, and there is already evidence of that in preseason. If that is the case, Morris stands a good chance of finding minutes considering all three Sounders forwards are in their 30s and Schmid will be looking to manage their minutes with the help of Morris' presence on the squad.

"Of course those three guys, they are very, very good, and I'm excited to learn from them," Morris said. "It's a great opportunity for me to learn from some great players, and it's always good to fight for playing time because it keeps you motivated. I'm excited and I just want to play."

Morris admitted that he couldn't really remember the last time he wasn't the clear-cut starter for his team, having started all three seasons at Stanford and through high school. There is one exception, the U.S. national team, which he has spent the past month training with, and which he hopes to spend plenty of time with in 2016 and beyond.