CARSON, Calif. – There appears to have been no substance behind the inclusion of former Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein in the club’s trade of Ben Zemanski earlier this month.
New manager José Luis Sánchez Solá admitted Saturday prior to a 5-1 exhibition victory over the USL Pro's LA Blues that he’s perfectly content with to keep his current roster intact in the week leading up to his first MLS match. Bornstein, who has been at Mexican side Tigres UANL since a 2011 move from Chivas USA, does not figure into Sánchez Solá’s plans and, frankly, never did.
“No, no,” Sánchez Solá told MLSsoccer.com. “I didn’t ask for another player and I haven’t been notified that another player might be coming. I haven’t even heard anything about Bornstein.”
The club also bagged allocation money in the Zemanski trade.
READ: Chivas USA add three players on loan from Guadalajara
And within a week of each other, the Rojiblancos shipped away James Riley to D.C. United and Shalrie Joseph to Seattle in what many considered to be lopsided deals. Chivas USA gained the rights to first refusal for Bornstein from the Portland Timbers in exchange for Zemanski – a key contributor last season – but an attempt to bring back the USMNT veteran was never made.
Sánchez Solá said the club’s recent decisions were salary-cap related in nature and had nothing to do with how the players fit his on-field schematics.
“This team has had a lot of those [financial] problems in the past,” the 54-year-old coach added.
If there's another transaction before the March 2 season opener, it would likely involve Ante Jazic, the 36-year-old Canadian defender who still listed on the club roster but has not been in camp since Sánchez Solá arrived.
“I hope I can keep the 27 we have now,” Sánchez Solá said. “I don’t want to lose any more.”
