Chicharito officially signs with the LA Galaxy

It’s officially official, as the LA Galaxy unveiled Chicharito as their latest Designated Player signing on Tuesday. The Mexican forward, 31, joins from La Liga club Sevilla, where he had just moved to a few months prior.

Literally the only signings bigger in the world than Chicharito would be Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo — and don’t count on either of them to join MLS, probably ever. This is the biggest signing in MLS since the last big Galaxy signing, for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In the pantheon, this coveted capture cements LA’s legacy as the destination for the biggest stars. And on the field? Can’t wait to see how many goals he brings.

For now, let’s imagine some bad ass things.

This is obviously the big lead (more content coming on this front), but here’s some more news for your Tuesday:

• Camp opens: Preseason camp opened this week for the Galaxy, and some of the familiar/horrifying elements of gearing back into playing shape emerged.

• As my old gym teacher would say, “Burn a lap!” (I have no idea what that means, either)
• Alessandrini says goodbye: With Chicharito understandably taking a DP slot, Romain Alessandrini’s place with the Galaxy was even more under threat, and the Frenchman announced on Monday that his “journey in LA is officially over.” Alessandrini was the best player during one of the Galaxy’s worst years, and his injury troubles meant he never got a good run last year with Zlatan fully healthy. Best of luck to him.

• Chicharito interview: If you’re curious about why Chicharito decided now was the time to come to MLS, The Los Angeles Times had an interview with the big star Tuesday morning. Among the notes, Chicharito says Jonathan dos Santos helped sell him on MLS being an underrated league, and the player pointed to him and Uriel Antuna’s success with the Galaxy helping their El Tri prospects. It’s a good read.
• Chicharito on-field breakdown: Cesar Hernandez knows his Mexico and Liga MX soccer, and he has an extensive breakdown of what Chicharito will bring to MLS and the Galaxy over at MLSsoccer.com. The gist? It’s gonna be good.
• 2nd-biggest signing in MLS history: Another MLSsoccer.com columnist, Andrew Wiebe, ranks Chicharito’s signing as second-biggest in league history, behind only David Beckham. He’ll have to back it up on the field, but it really doesn’t feel like a stretch to put it that high out of the gate.

Today’s question: An easy one here, how many goals will Chicharito score in 2020 for the Galaxy? Leave a comment below! Let’s chat.