Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil are the new faces in town, the Los Angeles Galaxy are hoping that in 2024 they can make up the ground they have lost the last five years to LAFC. The road to redemption begins on Sunday against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
Inter Miami began the season with a hard fought 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake, despite a bright start the old legs of Inter Miami wilted as the game went on and had it not been for a moment of magic by Lionel Messi, who knows if Tata Martino’s side would have won the game.
Luis Suarez looked the most heavy legged of the big signings and Sergio Busquets continues to be prone to mistakes in the middle as the match wears on. A younger LA Galaxy must like their chances in their home opener. On Friday, the club will hold a press conference for Brazilian Gabriel Pec and Ghana international Joseph Paintsil, their two new DPs.
Who are Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil?
Gabriel Pec is a 23-year-old Brazilian winger who is coming from Vasco Da Gama, where he scored 25 goals in 168 matches. Pec cost the Galaxy a $10 million transfer, but for the first time the Galaxy may have signed a DP with sell on value in the future.
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Pec is a stark difference from heavy investments made on players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Javier Hernández, that brought notoriety but due to their age had virtually no sell on value and were not able to win silverware with the club.
The Galaxy missed the playoffs in 2023 and were eliminated in 2022 by LAFC, today the club’s biggest rival.
Joseph Paintsil
Joseph Paintsil, the 26-year-old Ghanaian winger, joins the LA Galaxy after a playing four seasons with Genk in Belgium. The Galaxy paid a $9 million transfer fee for Paintsil, who scored 31 goals in 134 games for Genk.
Neither player is expected to make the season opener against Inter Miami, but the Galaxy will have Julián Aude, Gastón Brugman, Maya Yoshida, Martín Cáceres, Jalen Neal, Riqui Puig, and Dejan Joveljić most likely starting.
