It’s now official: Zlatan Ibrahimovic is coming to Los Angeles.
Following Thursday’s reports, the Galaxy announced the signing of the Swedish star on Friday. Ibrahimovic was signed using Targeted Allocation Money and could feature as soon as next week’s clash with rivals LAFC.
“Coming to play in the United States, it is only fitting for me to join the most successful team in Major League Soccer, the LA Galaxy,” said Ibrahimović. “I am excited to join a club with a winning legacy that has embodied soccer in Los Angeles for over 20 years. I would like to thank everyone at the club for making it possible to play for the LA Galaxy. I am looking forward to joining my teammates, playing at StubHub Center in front of our fans and helping our team compete this season.”
Ibrahimovic joins the Galaxy from Manchester United after previously featuring for clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Barcelona. The Swede has won 11 league titles in four separate countries throughout his career while scoring 421 goals for club and 62 goals for the Sweden National Team.
“Adding one of the finest goal scorers in this sport’s history to our roster will tremendously help our club in the hunt for a sixth MLS Cup,” said Galaxy Head Coach Sigi Schmid. “As one of the winningest players of all time, we believe he’ll have a very positive impact on our team. We are confident that Zlatan can be one of the most dangerous strikers in our league and we are excited to integrate him into our club.”
#zLAtan pic.twitter.com/S73CpaNMaP
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 23, 2018
“Signing Zlatan is a testament to the LA Galaxy brand and our incomparable success in MLS since 1996,” said LA Galaxy President Chris Klein. “In addition to our rich history, we continue to invest in building a future that will see us continue to reach new achievements. We aggressively pursued Zlatan and are extremely pleased to add him to our team.”
The Galaxy return to action this weekend against the Vancouver Whitecaps
I have serious fears this is just another
I haven’t followed him much lately, he seems like Maradona was near the end, flashes of brilliance when he was ready for a new contract, dull otherwise. I don’t know the terms of the contract, but I don’t think he brings much to the league as a marketing thing anymore; I’m curious if he brings much to the field, so the question is can they sell enough jerseys to break even on him?
Most successful team in MLS? Ok, live in the past while playing in the present. They finished LAST. Dead last.
There are two BIG risk factors here. One, injuries, and he just came off of one. Two, does the name take it seriously. Most who came here for whatever reason didn’t and got their butts handed to them. He could be big, he probably won’t be. Just based on past players, many of which played for LA very recently and weren’t MLS quality.
LAG is a long way from the team it was with Keane, Beckham, Donavon, and Magee. I am pretty sure that Dos Santos, Zlatan and Kamara plus some other player will not equal the play of the previous 4.
I used to absolutely loathe this guy, starting with the Gooch incident and the whole bragadocious personality that felt more pro-wrestling that soccer. But over the last few years, I’ve begrudgingly learned to appreciate what he has accomplished and his confidence. As an LAG fan, I hate the signing of a 36 year old with a bum knee. But the fact that it’s TAM money makes this more palatable.
I’m fearful that Zlatan thinks he will just show up and score at will (2-3 years ago, that may have been the case). It just feels like LAFC is building their new team the right away, while LAG is stuck in MLS 2.0.
I am genuinely curious how The Zlatan is going to work out here.
He ain’t in a plus situation. He’s got two talented but severely undermotivated helpers in the Dos Santos brothers…and to make things worse, despite the fact that the big striker/little striker combo usually works well, that happens when the big dude is a target man, whereas Zlatan actually works best as a false 9 who can go find the game, drop deeper, and get on the ball. Which is what Gio likes to do.
If they work it out I can see it being a good partnership because they’re both technical and flashy and like to Harlem Globetrotter the opposition; if they start getting into one anothers’ space I see it going very badly.
And does he have anything left in the tank? MLS will eat him alive if he isn’t fit. People bash MLS for its technicality; they do not bash MLS for its physicality or athleticism.
Good points!! Arena had a puzzle when Beckham came and had to fit him in a role he was comfortable with and could be productive. I think this will be a test for Sigi Schmid.
But remember, Zlatan will probably play less games than he has before, will probably not get as many minutes and will be rested more. Its hard to build an offense around someone you might not have playing as many minutes as you want.
I honestly do not see Sigi putting Zlatan anywhere but close to the goal for most of the time.
Its ironic that the LAG have had so many decisions to make for its C/F position, first trading a crowd favorite with Zardes for a more experienced and complete Kamara, only to find he has been usurped by a soccer icon, on his first trip away from LA. However, I do not think the :LAG are suffering from an embarrassment of riches at its C/F spot. But no doubt one of the attackers the LAG have, will spend more time on the bench than thought, and that the players will need to get used to playing in another position should they want to see more playing time.
The LAG still have at least 1-2 more positions on their roster to fill, and I expect another LB somewhere down the line, and they have not exhausted their war chest either.