Several Swedish sources are claiming that Swedish international Christian Willhemson might be heading to LA Galaxy. Willhelmson was part of the squad that participate in this years European Championship. He has been under much critizism for playing his trade in Saudi Arabia since 2008, with both fans and journalists claiming he took money instead of playing in a better league. (He has previously represented Anderlecht, Nantes, Roma, Bolton and Deportivo La Coruna), ….but something tells me his photo model wife might enjoy Los Angeles.. LA Galaxy interested in Wilhelmsson "Have asked us for references" LA Galaxy are interested in unattached Christian Wilhelmsson. The Swede will be club mate David Beckham. - They have asked us for a references, says Gustaf Grauers, sports director at Hammarby, to Soccer Channel. The Swedish national team player Christian Wilhelmsson has been without a club as his contract with Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) ended this summer. Now he might go to the United States. Fotbollskanalen.se writes today that Galaxy has started to inquire about the midfielder - including at Hammarby. - It is natural because we have the same owner. AEG owns the two clubs. We have Chris Klein on our Board of Directors, Vice President of the LA Galaxy. They have called and asked about "Chippen" (Willhelmsons nick name), what we think, says Gustaf Grauers to the website. Fabio Alho, "Chippens" agent, also confirms that an MLS club expressed interest, but will not say which one. SOURCE:http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/internationell/ovrigaligor/article15279788.ab
The one nice thing about this rumor is that he actually addresses a need and is a realistic pick-up, as opposed to all the rumors we always get about major super-stars signing with the team....
Exactly. My only question -- is he good? Secondly, it concerns me that he is accused of going to Saudi Arabia for the money. I hope he doesn't think he'll be making a ton of money here, or that he can get by in this league by half-assing it. He fits a need, is a realistic option but does he have the talent and passion?
There has been rumors about him and the MLS in gerneral before, but I think there is plenty of substance here. He has been linked with his home town club Mjällby. I assume that Galaxy won't bring him on as a DP, so his salary in Galaxy would proably be comparable to what he would get playing in the Swedish league. However, he is the kind of guy that would really enjoy living in California especially if it includes hanging out with Beckham and Robbie Keane.....(Willhelmsson is a close personal friend with Zlatan Ibrahimovic)
Beirut – He was very good during the European Championship. I was honestly not very keen on him being part of the Sweden squad this summer, but when he came on the pitch I had to admit that he is a good and creative winger. The Saudi story. Basically, Willhelmson could have gone to a mid-table club in Spain or Italy for a decent paycheck. That probably would have been a very fitting kind of deal. Al-Hilal offered him an amazing amount of money for the player he is. He basically cashed in like he was playing for a Champions League club…..but as he, and we all know, Inter, Barca or Arsenal were never going to come and knock on his door. If he can perform for the Galaxy like he did for the Swedish national team this June, it should be a good deal. I do not see Galaxy bringing him on as a DP.
My prayers might of been answered. We need a legit RM/RW heading into the last season stretch and playoffs. If he's good enough to play on Sweden's Euro Finals team, then I'm sure he's good enough to play for us. I just hope he connects well with this team fast, and doesn't need a preseason to acclimate to the MLS.
They won't -- all the slots are full... But maybe we can be creative and fit him in the cap for around $200k.... If he already got his big fat Saudi pay-day, maybe he's willing to work for small wages in exchange for getting to hang in LA and get modeling tips from Beckham....
I don't get the Hammarby IF stuff. Are they reporting that he might sign with them instead? I'm sure they can only pay him 200k too, and playing in the Superettan is not as prestigious as playing on the Galaxy (but more prestigious then playing on SJE). I'm sure signing with us would give him more attention.
WarGalaxy - Yeah, the Hammarby thing is kind of confusing. The way I read it is that someone from Galaxy called Hammarby’s Gustaf Grauers to get some kind of ”second oppinion”.
Being this late in the season the actual amount would be pro-rated right? So we could theoretically sign him for $200K but only be on the hook for $50K against this season's salary cap.
Yeah, not sure how all of that works - but it would be pro-rated for the remainder of the season - which might help us fit him in the books. Then in the off-season we'd have to re-finagle everything to be cap compliant again going into next season... and when has that ever been an issue for us...
My biggest concern is who are we losing to bring him in? I mean we offloaded a lot already but I kept hearing talk about how we needed to do that to hit the salary cap so do we need to trade to get him in here? Other question, is he fast?
even if we had cap space we would have to get rid of Keat or Leonardo or just put Leo in out for the year injury report to be able to use his international spot
Yea, what the hell happened to him? How is he still freaking injured? Too bad id rather see him healthy and we ditch Lopes
Yes. He's a free agent, so he's still eligible for us to sign until Sep 1st. I'm getting anxious for this signing. I think it would be a great message from our FO, that we're willing to be creative enough with our cap to bring in the players that will push us over the top and defend our Championship, this year!
Here is a Youtube clip with "Chippen" from the Sweden - France game (he came on as a sub). Any thoughts?
Well, it's a good thing (for most our players too) that we don't face the level of competition of France's NT. He looks like he has good pace with the ball, which we need badly. It also looks like he better playing RW then LW, which is perfect for us. He looks aggressive, and I don't mind when offensive players commit timely fouls because it wears down the defender as the match goes on, and it can prevent quick turnaround fast-breaks by the opposition that would catch us out of position or shape. All and all, I'd sign him up (of course). I was a little concerned that his skills might of dulled playing in the Saudi Pro League, but obviously since he was still being called up for NT duty that wasn't the case. In fact, he was more then holding his own against France.