Sebastian Lletget gets a multi-year contract that sees a significant raise from 2019.
CARSON, Calif. — LA Galaxy midfielder Sebastian Lletget will have a little less to worry about when his National team faces off against Cuba tonight in their CONCACAF Nations League match (4:30 p.m PT; FS1, UniMás). That’s because, as the Galaxy announced, Lletget just signed a new multi-year contract with the club (confirmed by CoG) — a deal that gives the US International a surprisingly significant raise and was accomplished using Targeted Allocation Money.
Lletget, who was initially signed by Bruce Arena and the team during the 2015 season, has made 91 starts while scoring 14 goals and adding 18 assists during his time in Los Angeles. During that time, he’s played in just about every midfield position and has become a likable fan and media favorite for his positive attitude and his relaxed use of social media.
Since an injury-plagued 2017 season, where he only played three games, the 27-year-old Bay Area native has put in back-to-back seasons of solid work and played in a career-high of 29 games in 2019 (27 starts; also a career-high).
And in the final nine games of the season, Lletget scored twice and added four assists while helping the Galaxy to their first playoff berth since 2016.
Lletget was out of contract at the end of the 2019 season, and his new multi-year year deal comes with a significant increase in pay.
And while terms of the deal were not released, with the Galaxy designating him as a TAM player, that pegs his salary somewhere between $530,000 and $1.5 million. And, when checked against Lletget’s 2019 salary of $312,667 (according to the MLSPA), that puts his raise at a minimum of $220,000.
But with Lletget’s high profile as a USMNT player boosting his appeal to the league and the team, it probably shouldn’t be surprising that this deal got done — even with the unusually high standard MLS sets for using TAM on domestic players.
With significant departures throughout the midfield, including Favio Alvarez, who was competing for playing time with Lletget, and the uncertainty around the expiring contract of Romain Alessandrini, it makes sense to lock-in another starter. Lletget will join Cristian Pavon, who just had his loan extension announced on Monday, and midfielders Jonathan dos Santos and Joe Corona, who are both still under contract.
And while Lletget’s TAM contract is a significant amount for a salary capped league, it’s unlikely to affect the Galaxy’s overall ability to bring in other high-priced talents with TAM.
The only question now is whether Lletget will live up to the significant investment the Galaxy are spending on him.
Don’t forget to follow our off-season tracker to keep track of all the signings, transfers, trades, and acquisitions that will follow the Galaxy in this 2019/2020 offseason.
