LA Galaxy sign midfielder Mika Väyrynen

The LA Galaxy announced today the signing of Finnish midfielder Mika Väyrynen who had been on trial with the Galaxy during their European preseason trip. Mika has 59 caps for the Finnish national team and was an integral part of some very good Heerenveen squads through the years. He also spent sometime at Leeds where his career hit  a bit of a snag but has since rebounded with HJK Helsinki.

It is unclear when Mika will arrive or will be ready for roster selection, but he will almost certainly miss today's game against the Chicago Fire.

While his age may be a bit of a concern, there is a lot to admire in Mika's game. Overall, this seems like a good signing by the Galaxy. If Mika is anywhere near as good as he was 4 years ago in the Netherlands, then his presence could add a touch of much needed creativity within the midfield in addition to goals.

Here are some highlights.

I also feel that Heerenveen's style is a good analog to that of our own. This means Mika will have experience anchoring an attack with lots of interchange in the attacking third.  We may not play the iconic Dutch 4-3-3, but in terms of run reading, he should feel right at home with Galaxy soccer.

While it is doubtful that Bruce is signing Mika with the aim of making him a regular starter, the signing does give the Galaxy some much needed depth at the center-mid position as well as give Bruce Arena some options. Baggio Husidic, for instance, now becomes a more viable option at left mid. The signing can also be viewed as a "Plan B" of sorts, after the failed signing of Sacha Kljestan, as their games seem somewhat similar.

So what do you think of all this? Is this a good signing?