Juninho and Leonardo Return to LA Galaxy for 2012 Season

The LA Galaxy have announced that Juninho and Leonardo will be rejoining the team for the 2012 season. Juninho will be returning on another loan deal. Leonardo has been acquired on a free transfer. Juninho will be joining the team next week ahead of the Galaxy's preseason tournament in Arizona.

Much like the Confidential called Edson Buddle's return before it was officially announced, the scoop on this story came out early this morning. According to the article translated from Portuguese: he signed with Sao Paolo and tried to make a go with it, but had a falling out with the manager. There was an attempt to sell him to a French club, but when that didn't work MLS got the call.

Leonardo's return has been assumed, but it wasn't until now that he's been added to the roster. He still has recovery time on his ACL and LCL tears, so the news that he's been acquired on a free transfer is a bit of a surprise. He'll likely step in as starting center back when he's fully recovered.

Both Juninho and Leonardo were part of the Galaxy's ideal starting lineup last year, so this is a big boost to the current state of the roster. 23 year old Juninho appeared and started in 30 MLS games for the Galaxy, scoring four goals. He had an even greater impact on the club's Champions League run.