CARSON, Calif. – Zlatan Ibrahimović could make his debut for the LA Galaxy sooner, rather than later.
The Galaxy announced the signing of the 36-year-old Swedish soccer legend on Friday using Targeted Allocation Money. Ibrahimović is expected to arrive in Los Angeles next week and could be available for the Galaxy as soon as their March 31 match against LAFC.
“We’ll see when he gets his clearances to play and how the flight goes,” Schmid told LA Galaxy Insider. “The number one priority for us will be to put Zlatan on the field at the right time and not put him on the field, and expose him to a risk to potentially get injured.”
The Galaxy will be paying special attention to Ibrahimović’s health as he has dealt with knee issues over the last year. Although the striker has not taken the field since Dec. 26, Schmid and the Galaxy are confident that he’ll be fit to play.
“Everything has been very positive. The people that we’ve talked to have said that he’s got a pretty good fitness level,” Schmid said. “He needs games to reach game fitness because that’s something that he hasn’t had over the last two or three months, but that’ll come. From the standpoint of training regimens and being fit, none of that is an issue.”
