LA Galaxy deal to sign Jonathan dos Santos from Villarreal imminent - source
A deal for the LA Galaxy to sign Mexico midfielder Jonathan dos Santos from Villarreal is imminent, a source confirmed to ESPN FC.
Goal.comearlier reported thatthe clubs had agreed a $5 million fee for Dos Santos that will see the 27-year-old swap La Liga for Major League Soccer and join his brother Giovani in Los Angeles as the team's third designated player
Sources told ESPN's Armando Neria that Dos Santos was in Los Angeles on Wednesday to complete his medical. A days earlier, a source told ESPN's Taylor Twellman that the player and club were in advanced talks over a contract.
Dos Santos sat out training on Monday, according to El Mediterraneo, which reported Villarrealhad an in-principle agreement in place with the Galaxy.
The 27-year-old was due back in Villarreal training after a two-week break following the Confederations Cup, but the club gave him an extra few days off to negotiate his deal with the Galaxy, the Spanish newspaper reported.
The Galaxy already have two other designated players inRomain Alessandrini and Jelle Van Damme, who both signed DP deals before the season.
But in February when the Galaxy announced Van Damme's deal, which pays him a base salary of just $600,000, they said the contract gave them "flexibility" -- presumably by buying the deal down with targeted allocation money -- to pursue another big signing in the summer transfer window for the team's third allocated DP slot.
Villarreal already have a replacement for Dos Santos lined up as midfielder Pablo Fornals paid his own 12m release clause at Malaga before completing a transfer on Tuesday.
Dos Santos, who scored two goals with three assists in La Liga last season, previously played with his brother at the Barcelona academy before Giovani signed for Tottenham in 2008.
The two were then reunited at Villarreal when Jonathan left Barcelona to join the club in 2014, where his brother had moved a year earlier. Giovani, who is a year older, then left for the Galaxy in 2015.
The Galaxy have struggled in their first season under coach Curt Onalfo, after Bruce Arena left to lead the U.S. national team in November. They are just three points above the bottom in the Western Conference with six wins from 20 games and have lost five straight in MLS.
ESPN FC writer Jeff Carlisle contributed to this story.
