Actually, if we cannot replace Costa with another similar player, in the positive sense of the word, then we might as well keep him. An empty open DP spot does nothing for Galaxy with the summer window blown out by Klein. Same goes for Efra.
I agree Costa is better than Efra, Memo and Boyd. He has better acceleration and a better shot. Of course that is a very low bar given our current crop of wingers. Sounds like he might not be interested in returning though. And apparently our FO allows our players to do whatever they want.
fVanney said Douglas Costa will be available this weekend. Chicharito making progress. #LAGalaxy— Damian Calhoun (@DamianCalhoun) March 30, 2023 maybe not then.
I am hoping that this is a case of show casing that we see in American sports, demoing a player that the team doesn't want any longer to other teams in an effort to pump up his value.
I think Chris K finally looked at the buyout amount. Allegedly LA had a net profit of $4m last year and Costa’s buyout is $5m. If LA did similar numbers this year he’d be looking at an operating loss which would likely be the only thing he’d get in trouble for. I choose to believe this narrative.
"Not true, and it's nonsense" rebutted #LAGalaxy manager Greg Vanney on Douglas Costa rumors."He's been great. He's dropped weight, he's (the same weight) as when he was at Bayern..he looks lean, he's being working on the fitness side of things, he looks quick.." #LAvSEA pic.twitter.com/EqUSX8QYcY— Mike Gray (@MikeGrayAFC) March 30, 2023
Vanney out here winning Hearts and Minds.... unless we have a new, great DP lined up, might as well keep Costa, got to pay him either way. Who knows what's really happening behind the scenes.
Greg Vanney on new signing Julian Aude: Done with visa process, just waiting to get passport back. "He could be on the flight tomorrow, or could be on Monday or Tuesday." pic.twitter.com/qWZHVWRNaw— Mike Gray (@MikeGrayAFC) March 30, 2023
The #LAGalaxy have acquired a 2023 international roster slot from Austin FC in exchange for General Allocation Money.📰: https://t.co/w3zLqcmFqY pic.twitter.com/Ax6yoAF1aj— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 31, 2023 $150k allocation money. Not a bad deal. Must be for the new left back? Maybe his visa came through and we'll announce him today. EDIT - apparently we already have a slot for the left back. Maybe a new signing. The only rumor I've seen is of another goalie (probably not high on my list of priorities), and that stale rumor of a brazillian winger and that draft pick from last year.
Welcome to the City of Angels, Novak ✨The #LAGalaxy acquire goalkeeper Novak Mićović from Serbian SuperLiga side FK Čukarički .📰: https://t.co/02ZHOE8r3K | @kinecta pic.twitter.com/hUVtmvJLgq— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 31, 2023 What are we even doing? I mean, I'm all for a goalie upgrade but...priorities dude.
Perhaps Bond's injury is worse than we thought and he needs surgery. A shoulder injury could put a GK on the season-ending injured list. If so, we would still have to pay for Bond, but we would get salary budget relief as long as we sign a player before the end of the primary transfer window (in other words, before the end of April) and the replacement player earns no more than $250,000, which could be the case for a young player like Novak. The option to buy then allows us to use him as a cheaper replacement for Bond or a replacement for Klinsmann next year. Given that you can only do this maneuver for players injured before the end of the primary transfer window and for players signed during the same period, it is kind of like a free (not to AEG, but from a salary budget charge perspective) look at a possible player for next year while better filling our backup GK need than one of the guys from MLS Next Pro. Frankly, this is potentially a really smart move, which means it probably came from Kuntz
And here is even more reason we need Novak. Problem is that it's unlikely we could get an int'l player's paperwork done by tomorrow, which means Aaron Cervantes might be our starting GK tomorrow (with Simon Jillson as the backup). Where is Mike Magee when you need him? Big News here from Alex. Galaxy now have both Goalkeepers out. #LAGalaxy #MLS https://t.co/lgktUY8YsV— Corner Of The Galaxy (@GalaxyPodcast) March 31, 2023 Further detail on Klinsmann's injury Vanney said yesterday that Klinsmann had a finger injury (stepped on in Portland game). Didn’t know severity, but he would test it again today. Somebody better call Mike Magee #LAGalaxy— Damian Calhoun (@DamianCalhoun) March 31, 2023
This is where the summer window ban and poor DP signings starts to bite. We have little ability after April 24th to correct problems with the squad. It's like a plane crash, it's never just one thing, it's a chain of errors that compound each other. Each one leaving fewer and fewer options. #kleinout
Why does everyone think Costa may be bought out or somehow leaving? The tweet above suggests he is committed to playing this season with the Galaxy, doesn't it? What am I missing?
A couple of days ago there was a lot of brazillian sourced media that suggested a buy out was imminent and he was heading back to Brazil. Whether there was ever any truth to that, who knows? I think he's here all season now so maybe he'll surprise us. It's getting hard to be the optimist.
I have a feeling Costa will have a productive year for the Gs. Towards the end of the year last season, it seemed he was more active and involved.
Hopefully he's matured a bit, been humbled a bit and will want to do it the right way for a change. You know, hard work, discipline, caring about winning more than individual accolades, .... Oh, and stay injury free. Not much of an ask, right? Right???
Being injury free would be the biggest roadblock removed for Costa to be successful with the Gs. Consistent in-game playing time would help with the chemistry.
What I like with the recent moves is what we seem to make real scouting, and we quickly sign targets when needed. - Calegari : signed just ten days after Araujo goes to Barcelona. - Aude : highly-touted LB who's in the middfle of a battle between the Italian and the Argentinian federations. Signing these two young players from South America is very 2018 MLS but it's not something we were doing. - Micovic : signed less than a week after Klinsmann's injury. Obviously, the end of the story on the Douglas Costa/wingers front is still the most important thing of the offseason (and it s*cks it hasn't been resolved yet), but there is progress.