Galaxy sign Spanish midfielder Víctor Vázquez
The Galaxy have signed Spanish midfielder Víctor Vázquez, reuniting new coach Greg Vanney with one of the key contributors from his 2017 Toronto team that won an MLS title and broke the league record for most points in a season.
A formal announcement is expected from the club early Wednesday.
“Victor is a talented, experienced and accomplished player who is familiar with Greg and playing in Major League Soccer,” Galaxy general manager Dennis te Kloese said in a statement. “He will bring a great deal of leadership to our club both on and off the field.”
Vanney joined the Galaxy from Toronto this winter and quickly made it clear he wanted Vázquez, who signed a one-year contract with a one-year option. He is the fourth player the Galaxy have acquired off a first- or second-tier European team in less than two months and the addition brings the team’s roster to 27 players, three shy of the league maximum.
The Galaxy open their regular season April 18 in South Florida against David Beckham’s Inter Miami.
Galaxy defender Julian Araujo and midfielder Ulysses Llanez were named to the final 20-man U.S. roster for next week’s CONCACAF Olympic qualifying soccer tournament in Guadalajara.
Vázquez, 34, who has played with seven clubs in five countries, spent two years in Toronto, scoring a career-high eight goals both seasons. He was also an MLS Best IX selection in 2017 when he had a team-high 10 assists. But he has played just 17 games since leaving Toronto after the 2018 season with his last appearance, a 14-minute stint off the bench, coming for Belgian club Eupen on Sept. 27.
With the Galaxy, Vázquez gives Vanney a trusted leader in the dressing room as well as a capable fill-in for midfielders Jonathan dos Santos and Sebastian Lletget, who the Galaxy expect will miss multiple games to international duty this season.
A Barcelona native, Vázquez was 11 when he entered his hometown club’s famed youth program as part of an iconic class that included Lionel Messi, Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué. But he made just three appearances with the first team, two coming in the Champions League where he scored his only goal.
Vázquez went on to play five seasons for Brugge in the Belgian Pro League, winning a title in 2015-16. He then spent two seasons with Mexico’s Cruz Azul before signing with Vanney and Toronto a month before a 2017 season that would see the team complete the only treble in MLS history, winning the MLS Cup, the Supporters’ Shield and the Canadian Championship.
