Offseason Summary
Squad Retention
Keeping hold of Jonathan dos Santos to maintain possession in the midfield battle was key for the LA Galaxy ahead of the 2020 season. Cristian Pavon will be aiming to carry on his incredible form from the end of last term with the club exercising the option to extend his loan deal for the entirety of the new campaign.
David Bingham will be the No.1 between the sticks once more, and he will be happy to have Rolf Feltscher, the club’s best defender, in front of him. Daniel Steres and Julian Araujo will be among those to also provide defensive cover on the backline. Along with dos Santos, Sebastian Lletget and Joe Corona will be among those looking to nail down a place in the midfield for the Galaxy once again in 2020.
Transfers & SuperDraft Picks
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This offseason, the LA Galaxy’s biggest move saw Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic leave the club after two wonderful years on the Californian coast. He re-signed for Italian giants AC Milan following his departure from MLS.
Along with the Swede, the club’s loan deal for Mexican forward Uriel Antuna ended following the conclusion of the 2019 campaign, while French winger Romain Alessandrini found himself out of contract and was not retained.
MLS legend Chris Pontius announced his retirement from the game following the end of the 2019 term, while midfielder Fabio Alvarez returned to UNAM after an unsuccessful loan spell. Fellow midfielders Juninho, Joao Pedro and Servando Carrasco all saw the options on their contracts declined ahead of this season.
Options were also declined for defenders Diego Polenta and Hugo Arellano, while goalkeeper Matt Lampson left the club as well, going on to sign for Columbus Crew. David Romney made the move to Nashville SC in return for over $200,000 in allocation money, while Norwegian defender Jorgen Skjelvik signed for OB on loan.
The Galaxy lost some big names, but they also brought some big names in through the door as well, with none bigger than Mexican striker Javier Hernandez. The former Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen and Sevilla forward signed as a Designated Player in one of the most significant transfers in MLS history.
Argentinian left-back Emiliano Insua also makes the move across the pond from Europe, signing from VfB Stuttgart, while three MLS men have also signed for the club: Sacha Kljestan was a free agent after his contract at Orlando City ran out, Aleksandar Katai was brought in from the Chicago Fire through TAM and Real Salt Lake’sDanilo Acosta was selected by the Galaxy in the 2019 MLS End-of-Year Waiver Draft.
The club had four draft picks available to them for the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. They traded away their first-round selection in a pre-draft trade but acquired the 81st overall pick from FC Cincinnati. The one pick they did make use of came in the second round, with the LA Galaxy hierarchy opting to choose Akron defender Tom Smart with the 45th overall pick.