CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy thought they had their man as the transfer window neared Wednesday, then watched a potential deal fall apart.
The fault, Bruce Arena said, lies with forces outside the Galaxy’s control.
"We were close," Arena, the Galaxy’s head coach and general manager, said following Thursday’s training session at StubHub Center. "There were just forces in the league that prevented us from doing this."
There were reports the Galaxy were pursuing RSC Anderlecht’s Sacha Kljestan, a US national teamer who grew up in Southern California and played four-and-a-half years with Chivas USA before heading to Belgium in 2010. One report Wednesday had the midfielder joining LA on a loan deal.
Arena would not identify the player the Galaxy nearly acquired, nor would he be specific about the "forces" that prevented the deal from happening.
"I won’t even go into the details, but that’s the reason," Arena said. "Our organization, we did everything possible to secure and player, and, unfortunately, there were forces fighting real hard not to let that happen. And, subsequently, it did not."
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The Galaxy last week traded second-year defender Kofi Opare to D.C. United in an exchange of positions on MLS’s allocation list, jumping from 11th to third in an effort to bring in a player. There were reports that Columbus, who are No. 1 on the list, also desired Kljestan.
"We did everything possible to acquire a player," Arena said, "and probably should have been able to do that."
