MLS team owners are “ready to ratify changes to the current salary cap rules to create a core player roster spot that will effectively work as a fourth designated player spot for any teams currently using all three slots,” according to sources cited by Ives Galarcep of GOAL.com. Sources said that not only are the Galaxy “set to unveil” former EPL club Liverpool MF Steven Gerrard on Saturday, but a transfer for La Liga club Villarreal MF Giovani dos Santos is “in the works, and its completion will be aided by impending changes to the current MLS salary cap and roster guidelines.” Dos Santos “would not join the team until August, by which time MLS would be expected to have implemented its salary cap slot changes.” In Dos Santos, the Galaxy “would be adding the Mexican star the club has craved in order to help secure a larger segment of the soccer fanbase in the greater Los Angeles area, particularly with the looming arrival of a second MLS team in the market” in ’18 (GOAL.com, 6/30). In Seattle, Matt Pentz notes Sounders GM & President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey yesterday “added further legitimacy to the report" of a fourth DP roster spot by "confirming an MLS-wide phone call with the league office scheduled” for today. Lagerwey said, “It’s been hinted to us that there might be some other options and stuff out there.” Pentz noted the Sounders are “among the clubs currently using their maximum designated player slots and that would thus benefit from the new rule” (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/1).
