LA Galaxy terminate loan with Samuel

The LA Galaxy announced this announced that they have terminated the loan agreement with Brazilian forward Samuel and he will return to his home club Fluminense. The 23 year old join the club on loan this off-season, after two years with his home club.

Samuel made eight MLS appearances for the Galaxy, starting four times. Samuel also appeared in two CONCACAF Champions League matches, tallying the late winner to push the Galaxy to a 1-0 victory in the dual legged tie with Club Tijuana the Galaxy ultimately ended up losing.

The MLS Players Union reported Samuel's salary as $50k, which isn't that much more than the MLS league minimum. A move like this isn't about clearing salary, and it's worth wondering which side initiated the termination. Samuel hasn't been getting playing time recently, only 358 minutes on the season. It could be the case that Fluminense asked for him back if Bruce Arena wasn't going to use him.

We'll have to see if this move leads to players like Chandler Hoffman getting more time with the senior team, having performed well with LA Galaxy II and recently come off the bench against the Portland Timbers.