Galaxy Add Defender Van Damme
- Updated: January 19, 2016
Los Angeles is expected to add 32 year-old defender Jelle Van Damme this week. Van Damme is a Belgium National and has more than 30 appearances for the national team in his career. He is coming off the longest stint of his career as the seven club man has played for Standard Liege in his home country of Belgium since 2011, where he has recently been serving as the club’s captain.
Van Damme will likely be asked to help the Galaxy fill the vacancy left from the departure of Omar Gonzalez in December. While the Belgian has been best known to play left back in his time at Standard, he may be asked to play Center Back in Los Angeles. This would not be the first time he has played Center back, and with his size (6’4″) he should fit into the position nicely.
The Galaxy back line is still a work in progress currently as English-defender Ashley Cole has been rumored to be headed to Los Angeles for some time now. The addition of Cole along with Van Damme should make for a revamped and much older defense for the Galaxy this season. It remains to be seen what these additions mean for current defenders Robbie Rogers, AJ DeLaGarza and Leonardo but it appears at least one of them is about to be replaced.
Contractually no financials have been released yet but it does appear that the Galaxy will at least have their new defender for two seasons,
Van Damme’s agent confirms deal with .@LAGalaxy (2 years + 1). Player will be in LA next week. https://t.co/Y0kol9qfOL
— Eric (@EricVking) January 19, 2016
Another rumor gaining ground for Los Angeles recently has been the addition of Dutch midfielder and current AC Milan player Nigel de Jong. We will keep you updated as we find out more about Los Angeles’ additions moving forward.
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