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The LA Galaxy have announced that the signing of Christian Wilhelmsson is now official. The Swedish winger will wear number nine with the club. He played with the reserve team yesterday as a trialist, as the deal was worked out to bring him in on a non-designated player contract. The 32 year old has 78 caps with the Swedish national team and will be officially added to the roster pending the approval of his P-1 visa and International Transfer Certificate.
Wilhelmsson is a native of Malmo, Sweden and began his professional career at the age of 17 with Mjallby of the Swedish League after coming up through their youth ranks. Wilhelmsson then went to Norway, Belgium, France, and Italy with Champions League level teams. He then went to England and Spain before leaving Europe for the Middle East.
While he's been a journeyman at the club level, he's been with the Swedish national team since 2001. He last played for Sweden on August 15th, starting in their 3-0 loss to Brazil in Stockholm.
It's likely that Wilhelmsson will be in the lineup for the Galaxy's reserve league match against Portland Timbers on Monday, as he continues toward availability for the match day roster. The Galaxy are off this weekend as World Cup Qualifiers take place around the world. Wilhelmsson was not named to the Sweden squad for their friendly against China tomorrow and World Cup Qualifier against Kazakhstan.