By DAN KARELL
The Los Angeles Galaxy academy setup continues to produce talent for the first team.
At the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena confirmed to LA Galaxy Insider that the team had signed highly-rated attacking midfielder Raul Mendiola and forward Bradford Jamieson to Homegrown Player contracts.
“We signed a new player this year in Raul Menidola and Bradford Jamieson and we’ll probably sign another one in the near future,” Arena said. “We believe in the Homegrown Players.”
Mendiola, 19, is a former member of the Galaxy Under-18 squad and made nine appearances this year for the Galaxy reserve team. He’s reportedly had training stints in the past with both Pachuca in Mexico and Manchester City in England. Jamieson, 17, made three appearances for the reserve side off the bench and scored two goals in ten games for the Galaxy U-18s.
The Galaxy have plenty of history using Homegrown Players, especially with the amount of minutes that Jack McBean, Gyasi Zardes, and the now departed Jose Villarreal received in both MLS and CONCACAF Champions League play.
In other news, Arena also told LA Galaxy Insider that the team was in fact looking to replace Hector Jimenez’s roster spot with a foreign player. A report stated on Thursday that the Galaxy were closing in on a deal.
“We think that we’ll get someone over the next week and hopefully strengthen our team as well,” Arena said. “We’re getting close to where we want to be with our roster. There can always be a change or two but we’re getting close.”
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What do you think of this news? Excited to see that Mendiola is part of the Galaxy first team? What are your expectations of the two? Who do you think is the foreign winger the Galaxy claimed they would sign?
Share your thoughts below.