Yony Gonzalez expected to join LA Galaxy “soon”

Yony Gonzalez has been the LA Galaxy’s big midseason signing to date, but since announcing his signing back on Aug. 19, the Colombian has yet to turn up stateside.

Chalk that up to two factors: The ongoing coronavirus pandemic limiting travel, especially into and out of the United States, and an immigration paperwork backlog in the U.S. government, in part resulting from the pandemic.

Galaxy head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto talked to reporters Thursday ahead of Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rapids, and in contrast to his weekly responses about Gonzalez previously, saying the player was tied up in red tape, metaphorically speaking, it sounds like there’s been progress.

“I talked with him today, I think he’s ready, everything is OK and soon he will be ready to play for us,” Schelotto said in English.

He also answered the question in Spanish, with reporter John Rojas translating Gonzalez will physically join the club before long.

Gonzalez, 26, joins LA on loan from Portuguese giant Benfica. While he’s yet to play in Portugal, the winger, likely to play on the right for the Galaxy and expected to score goals, has found success previously playing in Brazil and in his native Colombia.

While the Galaxy most likely would not have wanted to wait over a month for their big signing to arrive, the good news is if he can get fit pretty quickly there’s still a bunch of games on tap, and with the Galaxy playing well, an MLS Cup Playoffs berth is in their sights, too. So he could play a significant role yet in 2020. Stay tuned.

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