I was unenthusiastic about Reus simply because it's not a need and I worry that Vanney is going to try to fit everyone on the field at the same time. But if he's just a sub, I'm OK with it. The upside is that he has been successful at the highest level and can model that behavior for our young midfield. As for losing Perez, does anyone know what his contract status was? He makes a good salary (300k) but I thought he was exempt for being homegrown and so I wasn't sure how this frees cap space.
While recognizing his downsides - age and an already crowded midfield - it’s important to remember that Reus is a very high quality player. Based on his recent stats Reus won’t just be a replacement level player - he will be a goal-production upgrade over several of our current midfielders (Fagundez, Brugman, Delgado). I expect him to be more skilled and a better reader of the game than any of them. Now that leaves us with the question about how to use him without weakening the already sketchy defensive abilities of our midfield. I don't know how to do that. My first thought would be that because of his age and need to stay healthy - Reus should be used as an early second-half sub. Let Fagundez or Delgado run their butts off for 60 minutes and then bring in his talents to close off a high-quality 90 minute Galaxy product. However the problem with this is handling the many games where we have a second half lead. Vanney will not want to bring in an offensive middie at that point. And we cant just leave Reus on the bench. So scratch that as a long term solution. So that takes us back to Reus starting with Pec, Joe, Puig & Cerrillo. The benefit of this approach is that because if their work-eates and skill-sets both Fagundez and Delgado are decent subs in either scenario - helping us hold onto a lead or creating a score if we need it. Also a fresh Fagundez and/or Delgasi playing against tired legs is a pretty good setup for us. So yeah if I’m coaching I would use Reus as a sub for a few games to get him back into game shape. Then start Pec, Puig, Paintsil, Reus, Dejan, Cerrillo and our back 4. But Delgadio, Fagundez snd Brugman won’t be happy. Damn it - we just have too many midfielders. Get your act together Kuntz!
Remember Reus himself has an injury history. Its well-known. I can imagine we're never going to use him (as much as possible) on turf. At least I hope so. I see him as a possible replacement to give Puig a break periodicially as well. I can see a late game sub if we're trying to hold a lead because of his veteran presence. Bring him in to give Puig a break to hold possession a bit more.
I doubt he’s coming here to be an occasional late sub - he is too good for that. I’m guessing he is going to be starting some games, be an earlyish 2nd half sub (60th min) in some and sit out some (like turf games, as you mention). Btw, Puig seems like his head will explode if he doesn't start every game. So any relief Reus gives him will likely be replacing a pouting Puig late in the game.
With only 8 games left in the season after Leagues Cup, and Reus last playing in the Champions League Final on June 1 (and only then 18 minutes) and last playing anything close to a full game on May 18 in the Bundesliga finale, it's going to be awhile until he's in shape to start, let alone be counted on for significant minutes. He might be able to give us a shot in the arm heading into the playoffs, but the question of whether he regularly starts, where, and with whom is primarily a question for next year.
I put this here rather than in the Alumni news section because I believe the Galaxy retained something like a 20% sell-on percentage for Arajuo. So, we could get a 2 million Euro fee from this transfer if it goes through as reported, raising the Araujo transfer to Barcelona from a $4 million transfer to a ~$6.2 million transfer. 🚨🇲🇽 Bournemouth are in advanced talks to sign Julián Araujo from Barcelona on permanent transfer.Deal worth around €10m as @tjuanmarti revealed, Barça also asking for sell-on clause but negotiations still ongoing.Araujo could leave; Barça still think of João Cancelo at RB. pic.twitter.com/k0NVD1tIcU— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 8, 2024
Nice. And since he was homegrown at one point wouldn’t we theoretically be able to use that whole fee towards cap relief?
Unfortunately, I don’t think Araujo was ever classified as a homegrown. We had to sign him first to get him and then he played Academy and G2s for awhile.
I guess you have to give Araujo credit for reaching for the stars but he was never a Barcelona talent and he was delusional to think that, he could have had a solid career here but now he is just an average player, bouncing from league to league, I guess its not a bad gig if you can get paid well for it but me I like stability and the uncertainty would stress me out.
Is Araujo a Bournemouth level talent? I know nothing about that team - did look it up and they're in the Premier league.
Really good point. Lloris, Griezman and Giroud all feel very MLS 2.0. They have a good base to build on so it’s not as bad when we fluffed our lines, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens in their next round of DPs and what happens in ours. I’ll say it’s likely we have to dip back in to that market sooner than they do. The French boys may only have another couple of seasons left in them, but if Pec keeps up the form he’s on, it’s likely we get a new DP in 2026.
You are right about the limited # of games left. But calendar-wise there is still a lot of time left. Barring an epic collapse we will still be playing in the first week of November and hopefully will go to Dec. 8th! So there are still 3 to 4 months left in this season for Reus to make a difference.
Marco Reus to #LAGalaxy ✅! Deal done. But don't expect an announcement today. https://t.co/KjATO2tuTE— Manuel Veth (@ManuelVeth) August 9, 2024
Dang the FO is keeping a tight ship on this. Of course some leaks are inevitable when you have to get so many parties involved, so its not like we weren't aware he was a person of interest, but its still interesting to see how little statements are coming out of the FO regarding the signing. I'm reminded of the Penny Arcade of the comic regarding how tight Blizzard was with the release of Starcraft 2. https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/05/23/on-the-keeping-of-secrets
Kind of interesting that before the season and the initial transfer window closed there was lots and lots of talk from Kuntz and Vanney about "how much better and easier" the summer transfer window is for a team building a roster. And here we are with the transfer window closing in days with really just one signing and a rather luxury one at that. Surprised we're not rounding out our depth in some different ways. I guess just a function of hitting so many home runs in the initial transfer window?
Rumor about Boca Junior defender joining LA Galaxy: https://www.elobservador.com.uy/est...ar-la-mls-y-enfrentarse-lionel-messi-n5955209 https://www.intermiami.news/news/la...th-american-who-once-starred-for-inter-miami/
Bournemouth officially sign Mexico int'l defender Julian Araujo from Barcelona for a reported fee around $11 million.The LA Galaxy will receive a piece of that as they had a sell-on clause in the initial deal to send Araujo to Barcelona pic.twitter.com/WvA7JULJNQ— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) August 13, 2024 This source claims the sell-on clause for the Galaxy was 10%, putting the amount we receive from this transfer at $1.1 million #LAGalaxy recibirá $1,1 millones como parte del acuerdo original de venta de Julián Araujo al FC Barcelona—pues el club #MLS conservó el 10% de esta transferencia. De los €10m ($10,9m) pagados por el Bournemouth, el Barça obtiene €9m. LAG ha ganado $5,4m con él. #AFCB #fcblive https://t.co/ytjJ83UXoB— Jaime Ojeda (@jaimeor96) August 13, 2024
On COG last night, Josh mentioned that the Galaxy had a sell on cause for Araujo with Barcelona. He didn't know the percentage but stated that with a 10% clause, the Galaxy could expect a $1mm fee. I believe that most of this would be available to the Galaxy as GAM. I assume that they will get enough to cover a max cap salary and certainly a prorated cap space.
If that's true, that will significantly help, although we may not have needed it. Is this money transferrable to the next season or does it have to be used this season? how does that work?
I understand there is a bit of impatience out there. The deal is done. It is currently sitting with MLS. Once they approve the deal, Marco Reus will be announced by the #LAGalaxy. ⏳ https://t.co/RvIHKlNWjA— Manuel Veth (@ManuelVeth) August 13, 2024 Is the delay a sign the league doesn’t like the structure of our deal?