The LA Galaxy announced today that the club has signed midfielder Aleksandar Katai. Katai, 28, joins the club after most recently representing the Chicago Fire over the last two seasons, where he tallied 18 goals and 12 assists. He is added to the club’s roster through the use of Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) and will occupy an International roster spot.
“Aleksandar is a proven attacking threat who will be an important piece on our team,” said LA Galaxy General Manager Dennis Te Kloese. “In addition to his success playing in Europe, he has shown his quality in Major League Soccer since he joined in 2018. We are excited to add Aleksandar to our roster and look forward to him representing the LA Galaxy.”
Katai joined the Chicago Fire on loan from Alavés in La Liga in 2018 before being added the club permanently the following season. In two years with Chicago, he made 62 appearances while scoring 18 goals and adding 12 assists, including three game-winning goals and one game-winning assist. Prior to his time in MLS, Katai found success across various teams in Europe, notching 56 goals since 2009.
The winger originally joined Spain’s Alavés in 2016 and appeared in 23 matches, scoring three goals and adding four assists. Prior to that, Katai was the leading scorer in the Serbian SuperLiga with 21 goals during the 2015-16 season. The Serbian international initially joined Red Star Belgrade on loan for the 2014-15 campaign, then secured a transfer in June 2015. He amassed 31 goals and 15 assists in 68 games across all competitions for Red Star.
Katai made his Serbian SuperLiga debut for FK Vojvodina in March 2010. He scored six goals in 29 league appearances before departing for Greece in June 2011, joining Superleague side Olympiacos F.C. In his second stint in Serbia, Katai scored six goals in 31 matches from 2011-13. Katai returned to Greece for the 2013-14 season on loan with Platanias F.C. where he scored eight goals in 24 appearances.
Born in Srbobran, Serbia, Katai made his senior international debut on Nov. 13, 2015 in a friendly against the Czech Republic. Katai has since earned nine total caps for Serbia.
Katai and the five-time Cup champion LA Galaxy’s 2020 home opener is set for Saturday, March 7 at Dignity Health Sports Park against Vancouver Whitecaps FC at 7 p.m. PT. Fans can purchase tickets to the club’s 2020 home opener by clicking here. Single-game tickets to Galaxy home games are available on www.lagalaxy.com/tickets.
LA Galaxy Season Ticket Memberships for the 2020 season are available for purchase now. Galaxy fans can go to www.lagalaxy.com/tickets/seasontickets or call 1.877.3GALAXY (342.5299) to secure their 2020 LA Galaxy Season Ticket Memberships.
Transaction: LA Galaxy sign midfielder Aleksandar Katai through the use of Targeted Allocation Money (TAM).
Name: Aleksandar Katai
Position: Midfielder
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 155 lbs.
Born: Feb. 6, 1991
Age: 28
Last Club: Chicago Fire (MLS)
Birthplace: Srbobran, Serbia
Nationality: Serbia
