Galaxy sign Jermaine Jones, other deals in works
The Galaxy signed national team midfielder Jermaine Jones on Wednesday, completing their first major acquisition of the winter.
More could be the way though. The Galaxy is expected to announce Thursday that it has signed João Pedro, a 23-year-old Portuguese midfielder. And rumors of a deal with Spanish midfielder Jonathan dos Santos were reignited Wednesday as negotiations with Dutch midfielder Gregor Breinburg appeared to fizzle.
Terms of Jones’ contract were not announced but the team said targeted allocation money was used to complete the deal, meaning Jones will earn more than the MLS maximum wage of $480,625 in 2017. He had a base salary of $600,000 last season, when he played nine games with the Colorado Rapids.
“Jermaine is a winner who has experience in MLS and playing against the highest competition in the world,” new Galaxy Coach Curt Onalfo said of Jones, who played 14 seasons in his native Germany before coming to MLS in 2014. “He has a relentless engine on the field and we are confident that he will strengthen our midfield.”
The Galaxy traded their first-round pick in the 2017 SuperDraft to Colorado a month ago for the rights to Jones, 35, who has played 60 games for the national team but never made more than 17 starts in parts of three MLS seasons. He missed 3 1/2 months with a knee injury last year before returning in time to help the Rapids eliminate the Galaxy in the Western Conference semifinals.
Since then, the Galaxy have parted ways with designated players Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard as well as former MLS Cup winners Landon Donovan, Mike Magee, Leonardo and A.J. DeLaGarza. The team has also had to replace its entire coaching staff after Bruce Arena took four assistants with him to the national team.
The signings of Jones and Pedro have turned around the exodus.
Pedro is an attacking midfielder who plays in Portugal for Guimaraes.
In recent weeks, the Galaxy, who open training camp Monday, have been linked to talks with Villarreal’s Dos Santos, Marseille’s Romain Alessadrini and Breinburg, an Aruban international.
Also on Wednesday, Galaxy officials said they have agreed to a contract extension with midfielder Sebastian Lletget, who is in camp with the U.S. national team. The team did not disclose terms of that deal either. According to the MLS players union, Lletget made $115,500 last season, his first full year in MLS.
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