Birmingham Legion announced today the signing of 28-year-old forward Sebastian Saucedo.

The Mexican-American winger joins after a decade-long career spent primarily in Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX.

Saucedo last played senior soccer for Mexican side FC Juarez side in February 2024. He made two more appearance for their U23 side in March of the same year before becoming a free agent. He has been training with Legion the past few weeks as he looked to earn a contract.

“I think that the club in general, the surroundings, I think it’s a serious club,” Saucedo said. “Throughout my career, I’ve been in a lot of big teams in Mexico. Here, even though it’s USL, you’ve got high quality surroundings for the club.”

Born in California, Saucedo began his professional career at Real Salt Lake. He signed a homegrown contract with the MLS club in 2014 and made his professional debut for their USL affiliate, Real Monarchs, in 2015.

Two years later, Real Monarchs signed Mark Briggs as their new head coach.

Saucedo was already breaking into the senior Real Salt Lake team by that point. But he still made three appearance for Briggs’ title-winning side. In 269 minutes under the Englishman, the then-20-year-old winger scored three and assisted one.

“He’s a top player,” Briggs said. “I had him when he was a young boy at Real Monarchs, but then he progressed into the first team, did really well in the MLS and went off to Mexico. And you saw what he did there.

“For whatever reason, he’s a free agent,” he added. “He called, and we had a conversation and he’s come in. He’s really hungry, he wants to show that he can get back to where he was. And he’s still only 28 years old. That’s prime age.

“So we’ve manage to get a player who’s a game changer for us. We just got to manage his fitness and integrate him into the team in a positive manner.”

During his time in Utah, Saucedo was also an in-demand youth international, with both the United States and Mexico national teams vying for his allegiance. He represented both at youth levels before opting for the USMNT.

Though he has yet to earn a senior call-up, he represented the U20 team in 19 occasions, contributing eight goals and winning the CONCACAF U20 championship in 2017. He also played seven times for the U23 side, contributing one goal.

After making 90 appearances for Real Salt Lake, tallying six goals and 12 assists, Saucedo left for Mexico in 2019. He first joined Pumas UNAMA, before moving to Toluca and Juarez in later seasons.

Though he has not played a competitive game in over a year, Saucedo said he looks forward to getting back to full fitness and helping the team. In addition to his on-field attributes, he believes there is a lot he learned in his already lengthy career that he can share with the club’s younger players.

“I like to be a really good teammate,” Saucedo said. “I’m very competitive. I like to obviously dribble, do my little tricks and score, that’s the most important thing.

“But I think the thing I can bring to this club is my experience throughout the biggest clubs that I played for, the professionalism that I can transmit to the younger guys,” he continued. “I think I see myself more as a leader after what I’ve gone through in my career. Not follow the negative steps that I’ve taken and help those younger guys rise to their maximum potential. So I’m excited.”

While it is never easy to adapt to a new club and new surroundings mid-season, Saucedo said he is eager to get back to his best and show everyone what he can do. Having only signed a short-term contract until the end of the season, he knows he will need to prove himself if he is to earn a lengthier stay at the club.

“I only signed a six-month term, so this could be a huge turnaround to get back to a big club or stay here long-term and do the things right here,” Saucedo said.

Saucedo was in attendance during Wednesday night’s dramatic victory over Sacramento Republic. With another home game coming up tomorrow, Saucedo hopes the team can harness their recent momentum and climb the league table.

“Watching the games, the guys, there’s a real good quality out there,” Saucedo said. “I think we deserve more than the table shows, but we’re only three, four points from being fifth-place, so I think we can have a good turnaround to be able to make it happen.”

Birmingham Legion are back in action at 7 p.m. tomorrow night, hosting Oakland Roots SC at Protective Stadium.

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