LA Galaxy Reel In Robbie Keane, Offloading Juan Pablo Angel

If you believe two ESPN sources, the Galaxy have swapped out a Designated Player for Designated player by signing Robbie Keane to replace Juan Pablo Angel. I will now give you a moment to vomit at the thought of Angel's corpse collecting a DP check for the last six months. Done? Cool. Now let's take a look at this new toy that Bruce Arena has brought in.

Keane is coming over from Tottenham Hotspur, at least kind of. He's been loaned out a couple times in the last two years and has been on the outs at Spurs so he hasn't been much of a Tottenham player for two years. That doesn't mean he can't play at all though, considering that in 16 matches on loan for Celtic in 2010 he scored 12 goals. He really just found himself out of his depth at the Premier League level as the now 31-year-old aged.

Those of us who watched Keane for the last decade (full confession, I am a Spurs fan), know that he's slowed down. Tottenham supporters want nothing more than to get rid of the Ireland international. He has been getting paid far too much for a player that couldn't play at the Premier League pace who has helped keep the Spurs' wage bill high so it made bringing in other players difficult. I have spent the last two years hurling every insult possible at him, most of which were uncreative.

That said, Keane is a Spurs hero. He scored in 40% of matches in a six-year period and now he is in a position to become a hero with the Galaxy. Even as he couldn't chase down the balls he used to a run by people for Spurs, he could finish. Put him in front of goal and more often then not he will leave a goalkeeper helpless. Imagine all of the times that Angel has found himself in front of goal and missed the goal or tripped over his feet trying to turn and shoot. Those are chances that Keane finishes.

Keane will also be able to help out the Galaxy midfield. The unit that has had trouble against the top teams in the past will be helped by Keane's ability to drop deeper, help hold the ball and give the rest of the guys the chance to run off of him. All in all, this looks like a fantastic move for LA and oh yeah, we're rid of Angel.

Credit goes to AEG on this move as well. Spurs did let Keane go on a free transfer because they wanted out from his wages, but Mark Donaldson is reporting that Keane will be paid $9 million for two years. That's a nice chunk of change for Uncle Phil to shell out and they'll have to get out from Angel's contract to make room for him, all while continuing to keep the third DP spot that AEG had to shell out some cash to get.

Now we still have to wait for this deal to go through. Reports are that he's flying out to LA for a medical to wrap this thing up so it's not done yet. There's still some work to be done and it can fall through, but this looks like a huge get for the Galaxy. Out with the old and ineffective and in with a younger (albeit not young) player who works his socks off (not that Angel's effort was the problem) and has proven he can score recently by getting it done for Celtic and Ireland. Oh yeah, and this big boost is coming for the team leading MLS? It's really easy to support the Galaxy on days like these. Now finish the deal!