LA Galaxy acquire Giancarlo Gonzalez

Officially official, and not a moment too soon. The LA Galaxy organization announced this morning that 31-year old Giancarlo Gonzalez has signed a TAM deal. The Costa Rican international with 71 caps for his native country could be available for selection as soon as Saturday’s match versus the Philadelphia Union. (Update: Looks like his debut will have to wait)

Gonzalez was briefly a member of the Columbus Crew before a breakout performance at the FIFA 2014 World Cup culminated in a transfer to Italy.

“Giancarlo is a very experienced and talented central defender that we believe will strengthen our backline,” said LA Galaxy General Manager Dennis te Kloese. “He is familiar with MLS and he has played at the highest levels across the world. We are excited to add him to our roster and look forward to integrating him into our team.”

To sign Gonzalez, LA sent $400,000 in Targeted Allocation Money to Orlando City SC for the #2 position in the allocation rankings, then sent a 2020 1st round SuperDraft pick to Toronto FC to acquire the coveted #1 position. Not the easiest of deals to put together, but DtK got the job done.