Zlatan Ibrahimovic's decision to re-sign was good news for the MLS team, but now the club must part ways with one of its big names
When Guillermo Barros Schelotto was introduced as the LA Galaxy's new coach, one of the things he said he was looking forward to was working with the team's star players. He proceeded to name the team's four designated players, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Giovani dos Santos, Jonathan dos Santos and Romain Alessandrini.
What went ignored is the reality that the Galaxy can't keep all four players.
When the Galaxy signed Ibrahimovic to a new contract, making him an official designated player — the label that allows the club to pay him well over the league's maximum salary — it gave LA four players on DP contracts, one more than the league allows under its current rules.