CARSON, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy's aim is to keep Omar Gonzalez and Gyasi Zardes next season, but their ability to do so is uncertain, club president Chris Klein told MLSsoccer.com on Thursday.
The Galaxy, who have won three of the past four MLS Cup titles but were ousted by Seattle in their playoff opener late last month, aren't certain whether there will be a mechanism to keep Gonzalez on the roster and are fielding offers from overseas for Zardes.
Gonzalez, the 2011 MLS Defender of the Year and a four-time Best XI selection, attained Designated Player status when he signed a new contract in August 2013, but the Galaxy used targeted allocation money (TAM) -- a device the league introduced this year -- to pay down his official salary figure to below DP range in order to sign Mexican attacker Giovani Dos Santos to a DP pact in mid-July.
Klein was asked how the Galaxy would be able keep Gonzalez moving forward.
“I guess the easiest answer is we don't know yet,” said the former MLS midfielder. “We are working through trying to see what we can do with our roster. We have different decisions that we're waiting to make. We're waiting on, you know, the world that we're going to be in for next year from the league.
“We're taking a measured approach. We definitely want Omar here now and in the long-term, so we're looking to keep him.”
TAM provided $500,000 for MLS clubs to be used over a five-year period, but LA used the entire amount on Gonzalez this year, and he will revert to DP status in 2016 unless more TAM is provided or another mechanism implemented that would enable the Galaxy to keep him below the DP figure, which was $436,250 this season.
Klein said that the Galaxy were “certainly not counting” on additional TAM being provided.
“It's just something where we don't know,” he said. “So we're being patient, taking a measured approach, and we'll see where it all ends up.”
Complicating matters, if the Galaxy are unable to reduce Gonzalez's official salary figure, he has a no-trade clause in his contract, Klein confirmed.
Gonzalez on Thursday declined to comment.
Zardes, meanwhile, has been targeted by undisclosed foreign clubs, and Klein acknowledged that “conversations have been ongoing, but nothing serious.”
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The third-year Homegrown forward/winger, who emerged this year as a US national team regular, drew interest from clubs in England and Belgium during the summer transfer window, but Zardes earlier said that he hadn't been close to leaving the Galaxy.
“I would say our priority is to keep Gyasi as a member of our club,” Klein said. “He's done great here, and he's been great with the national team. We'll continue to evaluate [offers].
“With all our players, we try to evaluate the need to the Galaxy, the desires of the players, and then marry those up and see what we can come to. The transfer window doesn't open up until January, [and] Gyasi has been with the national team [for the start of 2018 World Cup qualifying], so we'd like to get him back in and meet with him and evaluate all of the options.”
