On a day when the Los Angeles Galaxy obtained the rights to a veteran forward, the club also bid farewell to a young and promising talent up front.
The Galaxy traded 19-year-old forward Tristan Bowen to in-stadium rivals Chivas USA and received allocation money in return, which could be used to help sign recently acquired Juan Pablo Angel to a contract or bring in other players who could help the team in 2011.
The teams would split any future transfer revenue if Bowen is transferred abroad.
“It’s a bit of a risk and a gamble on our part because we feel Tristan is a young player with great potential,” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena told MLSsoccer.com. “Given the issues with dealing with salary cap and improving our team in the short term, giving consideration to a third Designated Player, we had an opportunity to support that kind of thinking with receiving some allocation money in this trade.”
Bowen was the Galaxy’s first Home Grown signing, and the LA Galaxy Youth Academy product signed a contract, played and scored a goal in a relatively short amount of time. He scored two goals in 17 appearances for the club in 2010.
Bowen joins a Goats team that scored 31 goals in 2010, the fewest in the Western Conference and the second-fewest in the league behind D.C. United. The club boasts youngster Justin Braun up top and recently picked up veterans Alejandro Moreno and former Galaxy regular Alan Gordon via a trade with Vancouver.
“Tristan is a talented, explosive player, and we’re excited to bring him to the club,” Chivas USA interim general manager Jose Domene said in a statement. “He’s has a lot of experience at this level for a player of his age. We look forward to helping him develop into a top player alongside many of the other young, local players we have on our roster.”
Arena pointed out that parting with Bowen didn't mean that he or the club doubted the youngster's potential for a successful career.
“We’ve made a move which we think could help us in the short term realizing that, obviously, this is a young player with a lot of potential,” Arena said. “There is a give and take to all of this stuff. Trades are not one-sided and this certainly is not. There’s an upside in this trade certainly for Chivas and hopefully there’s an upside in this trade to the Galaxy.”
Arena’s main concern is building the 2011 squad and trying to improve it in order to defend the Supporters’ Shield.
“To duplicate that kind of performance is not going to be easy and, you know, it never is in this league,” Arena said. “Things are sometimes short-term and realizing that we want to at least be able to inject ourselves for a few more resources for the short term.”
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