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It’s Friday afternoon and with the roster compliance deadline just hours away, there’s still no official word on the fate of Giovani dos Santos.
The Mexican international has faced an uncertain future ever since the Galaxy signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic to a Designated Player deal putting the LA Galaxy at one over the limit. The anticipation surrounding how the organization plans on legally(?) fitting dos Santos back onto the roster has reached a fever pitch on social media, to put it mildly. From everything that’s been reported over the past few days, the most likely scenario involves LA removing Gio’s DP tag and signing
The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio has an informative thread on the topic, but this tweet in particular stood out to us.
It sounded legitimately like no clear decision had been made as of last night. However, people familiar with the thinking inside the Galaxy said LA was confident they would get their way. "Basically daring the league to say no."
— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) March 1, 2019
“Basically daring the league to say no”.
Paul knows his stuff. More importantly, his reporting meshes with some of the tells that have popped up recently regarding Gio’s future. Manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Dennis te Kloese have both commented on their desire for dos Santos to perform at an elite level and Gio’s desire to redeem himself with the fans.
(Speaking of the fans, Jona dos Santos was present at the Santa Monica ferris wheel lightning last night and seemed in good spirits)
#LAGalaxy Te Klose .. “Vamos a anunciar detalles hoy o mañana. No es secreto que hemos estado negociando con Gio. Idea es honrar su deseo de redimirse con los fans, y nosotros queremos antes que nada que esté saludable y cumplir las reglas” @kbaxter11 @RobAbramowitz @ASMexico
— John E. Rojas (@jrojasa75) February 28, 2019
Additionally in the past few hours Fox Deportes journalist Rodolfo Landeros has revealed the club and player have agreed to reduce his salary.
Look, this has been an unusually well-guarded secret. There’s also been plenty of speculation masquerading as intel muddying the waters. But if I were a betting person, I’d put money on Gio staying right here in LA.