LA Galaxy improve midfield with signing of Gastón Brugman

The LA Galaxy have found a new player to hold down the center midfield position. On July 6, the Galaxy signed Uruguayan midfielder Gastón Brugman from Parma Calcio to a three and a half year contract. Brugman is now locked in with the Galaxy until 2026. One of the best teams on paper in the MLS now has a marquee midfielder who can set players up and put the ball in the back of the net.

The Uruguay international played the first 11 years of his career in Italy, playing Serie A football for Parma. Brugman was a regular for the Italian club through their two seasons in the top flight, appearing in 49 matches in 2020 and 2021. In his decade-long Italian career, he totalled 20 goals and 21 assists.

Last season, he was loaned to Real Oviedo in Spain's Segunda División. In his lone season in Spain, Brugman scored three goals and had six assists in 30 starts. He was consistently in the lineup for Oviedo, appearing in 33 matches for the club that finished in seventh place. A good season for a player who was in his first season away from the only league he had ever played in.

Brugman brings creativity, vision and a nose for goal to the Galaxy's midfield, something it desperately needs. The team's midfield has been less than impressive, scoring just 5 goals and providing three assists through 18 matches. The Galaxy have three of the best attackers in the MLS in Chicharito, Douglas Costa and Dejan Joveljić, but the three could use a player to supply them.

The addition of Brugman will open up the midfield and give the team a true playmaker and scorer in the middle. This addition could prove to be the biggest one for the fifth placed LA Galaxy as the team tries to secure itself as one of the true contenders for the 2022 MLS Cup.