Reports: Zlatan Ibrahimovic in talks to join MLS, LA Galaxy
It figures to take some impressive math and roster manipulation, but if an Italian report is to be believed, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on his way to the LA Galaxy.
Sky Italia is reporting that Ibrahimovic, who is out of contract this summer following PSG's season, is likely to join an already star-studded cast in Southern California. Now just how that is going to happen remains to be seen. The Galaxy are at their full complement of Designated Players, with Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and Giovani Dos Santos, and Nigel De Jong is in line to become a DP next season (when Gerrard departs) if he plays in 23 games this season based on a contract incentive, according to SI's Grant Wahl.
On top of that, the club has used significant targeted allocation money on other signings to remain under the league's tight salary cap (though the exact amount of what they've spent and how much they have left is undisclosed).
How Ibrahimovic, who Forbes reported is the third-highest player in the world, and his likely salary demands fit into that is anybody's guess. It's also unclear which team in MLS has Ibrahimovic's discovery rights, which would entail the first right of refusal on signing him.
The Sky Italia report also claims that it's a 90% chance Ibrahimovic goes to LA while it's a 10% chance he goes to Manchester United, where he was linked last summer.
The report gained more steam Friday, when ESPNFC confirmed that Ibrahimovic and MLS are indeed in conversations, with LA being his eventual destination.
Stay tuned.
