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Galaxy Notes: No loan for Gonzalez, Wilhelmsson gone, and more

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Omar Gonzalez is probably still celebrating his MLS Cup MVP performance, and he will have a little longer to celebrate that victory after LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made it clear there will be no loans or training stints for the standout centerback this winter.

“We’re certainly not going to let Omar go out on a training loan exhibition this time around,” Arena told the LA Galaxy Insider. What Arena wouldn’t completely rule out is the possibility of the Galaxy dealing Gonzalez, who has one year left on contract.

“It’s based on if there is an offer there, we have to consider it. The only timeline is that the end of January is the end of the transfer window,”said Arena. “Omar Gonzalez is on our team. We’re not worried about anything until that changes and, right now, he’s a member of our team.”

NO RETURN FOR WILHELMSSON, GALAXY WORKING ON JUNINHO

One player who won’t be part of the team in 2013 is Swedish midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson, who played just nine total games after joining the team late in the season. Arena revealed on Wednesday that Wilhelmsson won’t be back.

A starter in the MLS Cup Final, Wilhelmsson will leave MLS with an MLS Cup winner’s medal and the memory of one of the worst MLS Cup final performances in recent memory.

The Galaxy are hopeful of finalizing a deal to bring back Brazilian midfielder Juninho, who enjoyed a standout season after returning to LA from Sao Paulo.

HOMEGROWN DEFENDER SET TO SIGN

Arena also informed local media that Galaxy Academy defender Oscar Sortos will sign with the Galaxy as a Homegrown player and join the senior team in 2013. He will join Jack McBean and Jose Villarreal as academy products.

Arena also admitted that the Galaxy are still interested in signing CSU-Bakersfield star forward Gyasi Zardes, though that isn’t really a surprise. What would be a bigger surprise at this point would be if the Galaxy were actually able to land college soccer’s most highly-rated forward for anything less than a big-money contract in excess of $200,000.

NO TOUR FOR GALAXY

After going on international post-season tours around the world in four of the past five seasons, the Galaxy decided not to have one this winter. There had been rumors about a potential tour of the Middle East, but Galaxy officials have decided to give the team a rest. You also have to wonder just how interested David Beckham was in doing another tour before leaving the club.

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What do you think of these developments? See the Galaxy selling Gonzalez? Surprised to see LA cut ties with Wilhelmsson so fast?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Wilhelmsson has been good as gone since before the playoffs even started. What a waste of money and roster space he was.

    Stoked to hear we’ve signed another homegrown player. McBean and Villareal are the real deal, so I’m looking forward to seeing Sortos suit up in 2013. He’ll get playing time during the 2013-2014 CCL group stage.

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  2. Wilhemsson was not that bad, but he was not that exceptionally good good for the money they would be paying him.. But for someone who came in cold, without he benefit of working with the squad for no more than a couple of weeks before he was signed, he did remarkably well. The big problem was, his age and his salary. He was signed because he was a good winger and was willing to take a big pay cut to play for the LA Galaxy. He had an option to play next year at a considerable increase. The Galaxy chose not to pursue that option.or negotiate as there was probably no way they could fit in his salary and keep other who were bigger contributors. Wilhemsson also played hurt for most of his time her, which contributed for his uneven performances. He was great against San Jose, but disappeared against Seattle. I think the other fact is that his wife, Oksanna, went back to Sweden several weeks ago, to have their second child. If I was Wilhelmsson, I would miss her her too.
    http://thesoccerobserver.com/2012/09/14/cat-fights-on-the-cards-in-carson/

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    • My impression of Wilhemsson was that he often looked dangerous without really being dangerous. I don’t know his stats off-hand, but I do remember him blowing a few scoring opportunities. And Ives is right, he didn’t look good in the final.

      By the way, you should slap a NSFW tag on that link.

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    • That was a very well written response. The man is talented and has been, but like many players at that age, especially dribblers, once their athleticism goes, they’re toast.

      He came in cold, it sounds like injured, so there wasn’t much to begin with. LA were hoping to land a quality player on the cheap for a couple months. Things didn’t work out.

      Saying that, he was TERRIBLE. Which is lucky for Donovan as he was borderline..

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    • Great against San Jose??? He had about three opportunities to end the game with the aggregate score 3-1 and he was an absolute disaster every time. And it mattered, the Quakes scored to make it 3-2 and then had two or three opportunities to equalize, when it would have already been over if that guy wasn’t total garbage.

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  3. Zardes is currently training / trialing with Freiburg of the Bundesliga. He was pictured with Okugo and Farfan, who are training there, along with Caleb Stanko, who’s a U-20 based at Freiburg, recently on twitter. I beleive the picture was uploaded on Okugo’s twitter account. The kid is the real talent. He’s got a wonderful future ahead of him, if he puts in the required work and is in a good environment to develop. I would assume his first choice is Europe but there’s nothing to suggest that’s a given.

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  4. Reasonable position by LAG on Gonzalez. I’m certain there will be offers to buy in January. Whether they’re sufficient is another question.

    Don’t know much about Zardes other than the hype. With his potential/wage demands, he’s certain to head directly abroad, yes?

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    • Ives can you comment on the value of a player like Gonzalez with one year left. He’s young, how much does he make each year, and how much would it take for you to give that year of him up?

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    • The transfer fee of $2.5M that Geoff Cameron warranted is probably what it would take to buy Gonzo. Although at the time the Cameron transfer was being negotiated, it was becoming clear that Cameron would be one of the starting CB’s for the USMNT which is a nice arrow to have in your negotiating quiver. Perhaps Gonzo would be worth more on the transfer market once he becomes the starting CB next to Cameron. Maybe LA and MLS should hold out for a transfer in January 2014?

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      • Weston, i think you’re on to something. unless a sweet offer comes down the pipeline, Galaxy andGonzo could increase value over the next 7-8 months and look for a summer transfer instead.

        Over the next 7-8 months eyes will be on Gonzo for both Gal matches, and importantly, maybe US hex matches.

        Of course, at that point, teams could just wait it out til the end of his contract and get him on the free.

      • Good point..LAG couldn’t wait a full year or Gonzo would walk for free (unless LA extended his contract with the understanding they’d let him transfer if a significant offer is made in 2014). Perhaps they will roll the dice and see if they can get an increased fee in the summer as you wrote.

      • I think Cameron only had one year left on his contract and that was a factor in getting a transfer fee now instead of losing him on a free transfer the following year.

  5. I wondered about all of the rumors of loans. Did none of them see what happened to LA this year ?

    Good luck NY if Henry goes down….some else will probably step up to fill those shoes.

    Reply

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