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LA Galaxy in prime position to cash in on Oriol Rosell sweepstakes

Is there one final move in the works for the LA Galaxy this year?

By Sean Steffen
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

The LA Galaxy currently sit atop the MLS allocation order after trading Marcelo Sarvas to Colorado for their  3rd position slot, only to be out maneuvered by New York. After New York acquired Kljestan, the Galaxy moved to second in the allocation list until San Jose used their number one position to acquire US youth international, Marc Pelosi, in mid-July.

This moved the Galaxy into the number one position, where they sit today. Since the order resets every year, however, the Galaxy don't have long to cash in. Enter this intriguing bit of news which broke last night.

Over the night it broke that Sporting Kansas City may be interested in resigning Oriol Rosell. The Spanish midfielder was a standout performer for Kansas City before making a move to Portugal. Kansas City received a hefty transfer fee for him at the time, thus relinquishing his rights and making any future move back to MLS subject to allocation. In other words, if SKC or any MLS team wants to sign Oriol Rosell, they'll have to go through LA.

While Rossell was not a free agent when the transfer window closed and thus would appear ineligible for transfer to MLS, there actually is a mechanism that would allow this to happen, and it's the one that Columbus used to sign Kei Kamara. Columbus was able to sign Kamara after the transfer window closed with the caveat that he could not play until the following season.

But will an MLS team pull the trigger on a signing they can't use till next year? Soccer twitter seems to think it would be a smart move.

And this brings us back to the LA Galaxy and what it might take for a team to acquire the number one slot in order to sign such a sought after player.

Obviously we won't be getting a player like Feilhaber or Dwyer, but Rosell is a potential impact signing for a team, which gives the Galaxy tremendous leverage to play hardball in the negotiations.

With the Galaxy completely tapped out on TAM for the next 5 years, one possibility is some sort of deal for a boatload of TAM in an effort to somehow keep Omar Gonzales for another year. Another possibility is to simply go for an Omar replacement, in case the Galaxy cannot gather the amount (roughly 500k) of TAM they need to keep Omar.

On this point, the Galaxy could set their sights on a player like Ike Opara. While some might think SKC would be crazy to give up Ike, given his injury history and their excellent defensive record this year without him, it's not as crazy as it sounds. Opara would replace Omar's presence in the air, in addition to providing more of a goal scoring threat on set pieces.

Another option for the Galaxy is to gun for a right back and allow AJ DeLaGarza to pair with Leo if Omar leaves. If this is the route the Galaxy go, the clear option would be Chance Meyers. The Thousand Oaks native is a talented right back, and through his injuries, SKC has proven they can get along fine without him.

There is also a possibility of some kind of three-way trade in which LA trades the number one slot to a team other than SKC, which would open the door to all kinds of intriguing targets too numerous to discuss in this article.

What do you see as the Galaxy's most pressing need?

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