LA Galaxy sign midfielder Adam Saldaña to MLS deal

The LA Galaxy announced Tuesday they have signed midfielder Adam Saldaña to an MLS contract. The 18-year-old joins the first team after playing across three seasons for LA Galaxy II in the USL Championship and coming through the LA Galaxy Academy.

“Adam is a player who has developed significantly with the LA Galaxy Academy and LA Galaxy II, and we are excited that he has signed a Major League Soccer contract with the first team,” said LA Galaxy General Manager Dennis te Kloese in a team statement. “He has proven to be a talented player who is committed to growing as a professional. We look forward to his growth in the first-team environment.”

The midfielder was a fixture in the lineup in 2020 for Los Dos, making 16 appearances in total, all starts, mostly playing a holding midfield role. He didn’t get on the highlights packages very much, but he did a lot of the dirty work in the middle of the field to unleash his teammates elsewhere on the field, which they did to considerable effect, reaching the playoffs out of arguably the toughest group in the league last year.

In addition, he’s a U.S. U-17 international, having played for the United States at the 2019 U-17 World Cup, playing in all three of the team’s games in Brazil at that tournament.

He was one of the key players for Junior Gonzalez on Galaxy II, and the organization seems to think he has a future at MLS level. It will be interesting to see if he gets real minutes in 2021 under Greg Vanney, or if he will head back to Los Dos for more minutes before hopefully breaking through to the top flight.

Saldaña is one of two academy products signed by the Galaxy to MLS deals so far this week, joining defender Jalen Neal, who was announced on Wednesday.

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