Sources: LA Galaxy trying to sign USMNT, EPL veteran Geoff Cameron
The struggling LA Galaxy wants to shore up its leaky backline by signing U.S. national team and English Premier League veteran Geoff Cameron, multiple sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Galaxy recently had a two-year contract offer worth $1 million per season turned down, but LA is still interested in signing the 32-year-old defender, sources said. Cameron remains under contract with English club Stoke City.
It’s not surprising that the Galaxy’s initial proposal was rejected. The deal would have represented a pay cut for Cameron, who has been taking home a far higher salary since he joined Stoke from the Houston Dynamo in 2012.
The Galaxy is limited in how much it can spend because it already has three high-earning “designated” players — the maximum allowed under MLS rules — on its roster in Mexican national teamers Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos and French attacker Romain Alessandrini. LA would also likely have to pay Stoke a transfer fee, as Cameron has two years remaining on his current deal. The next MLS transfer window opens on July 10 and runs through Aug. 9.
While the Galaxy has Cameron in its sights this summer, it is unlikely that they would sell one of their DPs to land him. The Dos Santos brothers certainly aren’t going anywhere. Alessandrini probably isn’t either. LA also has global icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic on its payroll, but Ibrahimovic’s $1.5 million salary accounts for less than half of the money the Galaxy has to spend on players from its “targeted allocation” fund, which helps teams sign and retain pricey players that aren’t DPs. But even if the Galaxy manage to significantly increase its offer there’s no guarantee that Cameron will sign, as he is also believed to have options to remain in Europe.
Either way, it makes sense that the Galaxy – the most successful club in MLS history – is looking for defensive help. With the 2018 season nearing the midway point, Sigi Schmid’s squad sits outside of the playoff places in the Western Conference and has conceded more goals than 13 of MLS’ 23 teams despite employing the most expensive backline in the league.
Cameron, who turns 33 next week, played for Galaxy assistant coach Dominic Kinnear for five seasons with the Dynamo. He made 168 Premier League appearances for Stoke, which was relegated to England’s second tier in May. Cameron has 55 caps for the U.S. and started in three of four matches for his country at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
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