LA Galaxy finalize the deal and land goalkeeper Jonathan Bond from West Brom and the English Premiere League
CARSON, Calif. — The LA Galaxy officially announced the signing of goalkeeper Jonathan bond on Wednesday. The 6-foot-5 former Welsh and English youth international has been a member of English Premier League Side West Bromwich Albion since 2018 and was acquired on a free transfer from the club.
“Jonathan is a quality goalkeeper with experience playing at a high level,” said LA Galaxy General Manager Dennis te Kloese. “He is a talented player and we believe he can make an impact with our team as we strengthen our goalkeeper position. We look forward to Jonathan joining the squad and his contributions this season.”
Bond will compete for the no. 1 position with Jonathan Klinsmann — who is expected to re-sign with the Galaxy (as reported by Kevin Baxter of the LA Times) — as the club moves on from former goalkeeper David Bingham who isn’t expected to re-sign with the club for the 2021 season.
And being that Bond has an American mother, he holds a US Passport and will be treated as a domestic player instead of taking up one of a limited number of International slots. The Galaxy located the 150-pound net-minder by keeping track of a list of domestic-eligible players who were playing outside of MLS. Once they zeroed in on him, the process was quick. West Brom agreed. Bond wanted to come, and just like that, the relegation bound Baggies sent him to Los Angeles on a free transfer.
He’s the 32nd goalkeeper in Galaxy history and the seventh Englishman to play for the club1.
“Very excited to sign for LA Galaxy,” Bond said via instagram. “I can’t wait to get started and meet all the players, staff and of course the fans. I hope we can make some incredible memories together and show why this is the biggest club in MLS. ¡Vamos Galaxy!”
Playing at many levels throughout the English soccer pyramid, Bond was most recently with West Bromwich Albion where he played on the their reserve team and took part in some of their cup competitions. His biggest success came in the 2017-2018 season when he played for Peterborough United on loan from Reading. With Peterborough he made 37 appearances and it eventually led to his transfer to West Brom.
At 6-feet-5 inches and 27 years old, Bond should be an imposing sight in goal for the Galaxy. But where he eventually lands in the pecking order in LA will probably be determined by the Galaxy’s preseason and new head coach Greg Vanney. If nothing else, the signing shows the Galaxy have scouted near and far to perhaps find an under-appreciated goalkeeper that doesn’t take up any additional resources (INTL slots, and TAM).
The Galaxy now have four international slots open, one Designated Player spot open (with Cristian Pavon still on the club’s radar), and 11 roster spots still to fill (19 of 30 filled) with an anticipated start to camp coming on at the end of January.
The financial terms of the deal were not released. However, original reports indicate that the deal is for two years.
1 Per Christopher Tucker – LA Riot Squadcast