CARSON, Calif. — The LA Galaxy completed a trade for 26-year-old center-back Marky Delgado on Friday. Delgado was acquired in a trade with Toronto FC for $400,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM), with an additional $100,000 in GAM available based on performance incentives.
CoG was first to report the imminent signing.
The contract for the box-to-box midfielder is for three years with a club option for a fourth year and secures Delgado to the Galaxy through the 2024 season. The Galaxy completed the signing using Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) which will make Delgado’s contract worth more than the maximum budget charge of $612,500 (2021 number used here).
The more than $600,000 would constitute a small salary increase compared to the $581,250 he was paid in 2021 per the MLS Players Association.
“I’m excited to welcome Mark to the LA Galaxy and back to his Southern California roots,” said LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney. “Mark brings high-level awareness, efficiency, and work rate to our midfield as well championship pedigree.”
Delgado was born in Glendora, California, and was a homegrown product of the former Chivas USA program. He made his MLS debut in a 17-minute stint in one game in 2012 but has since played in 218 regular-season games, 11 playoff games, and won an MLS Cup with Toronto in 2017.
His nine seasons as a player with the Reds made him familiar with both current LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney and with teammate Victor Vazquez. It’s expected that Vanney and Vazquez will help ease his transition into the Galaxy in 2022.
Last season, Delgado made 30 appearances with 27 starts for Toronto, playing 2,372 minutes while scoring three times and assisting twice.
Delgado is more defensively minded, is an extremely hard worker, and is likely to be paired with Rayan Raveloson in a double-pivot of some sort. With both being more 6’s and 8’s than an outright 10. And for a team that struggled through the center of the field in both work rate and defensive bite, this could help. But neither Raveloson nor Delgado is likely to offer the bite that could keep teams from trying to play through the middle.
Delgado was among the league leaders in 2021 in distance traveled per 90-mins and his main strength is his relentless pressure he provides through the center of the field.
He will turn 27 in May but adds an age-appropriate midfielder who’s expected to shoulder the bulk of minutes while stiffening up a weak spot for the Galaxy.
And with an expected Designated Player signing coming in the central or winger roles, his signing also signals a busy central midfield with the return of Sacha Kljestan, Victor Vazquez, Efrain Alvarez, Adam Saldaña, Carlos Harvey, Daniel Aguirre, Jonathan Perez, and the aforementioned Raveloson.