Romain Alessandrini joins LA Galaxy as designated player

The LA Galaxy signed French midfielder Romain Alessandrini as a designated player on Tuesday.

Alessandrini, 27, has spent his entire career in France and joins from Marseille, where he played for the past two and a half seasons.

A league source told ESPN FC that the Galaxy and MLS will pay Marseille a transfer fee of $1.75 million, withAlessandrini earning a salary of $2m per season.

After making 57 league and cup appearances with 11 goals during his first two campaigns with Marseille, Alessandrini has been limited to just eight league and cup matches this season.

OFFICIAL: #LAGalaxy have signed French midfielder Romain Alessandrini: https://t.co/GiP8OwCA6r #WelcomeRomain pic.twitter.com/zdeKtEW6oj

- LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) January 31, 2017

And his playing time was likely to be decrease even more after OM sealed the 25m signing of Dimitri Payet from West Ham, but the Galaxy were happy to sign their "number one target,"general manager Peter Vagenas said.

"We are very excited to add a talented, attacking winger like Romain to our roster," Vagenas said in a statement. "He is in the prime of his career and has spent time playing at a top division in Europe.

"Romain will play a valuable role in our team's success this season and we look forward to him joining the team ahead of the 2017 season."

The Galaxy have cash to spend this offseason after the departures of Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan. Alessandrini joins Giovani dos Santos as a designated player in LA.

ESPN FC's Jeff Carlisle contributed to this report.