The Galaxy’s 3-1 loss to FC Dallas on Saturday night and in particular the poor performance of 27-year-old left back Raheem Edwards appears to have added fuel to the club's search for defensive reinforcements, according to reports coming out of Argentina.
The Galaxy were already thought to be shopping for at least one more wide defender after Julian Araujo completed a protracted move to FC Barcelona last month.
TyC Sports' Cesar Luis Merlo has reported this week the Galaxy is close to signing 19-year-old Lanus left back Julián Aude, with other Argentinian outlets indicating the president of Aude's current club will fly to LA to close the deal as soon as this week.
🚨[EXCLUSIVO] Los Angeles Galaxy tiene negociaciones avanzadas para comprar un porcentaje de Julián Aude.
— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) March 5, 2023
*️⃣Ya hay oferta formal por el lateral izquierdo de 19 años y Lanús discute los aspectos finales para finiquitar la operación. #LAGalaxy pic.twitter.com/ETDJ91B8Tn
Aude is a promising player and has been part of Argentina's U-16, U-17, and recently U-20 national teams with 17 games played between the three teams. He was part of Argentina’s U-20 CONMEBOL Championship roster.
For Lanús, he’s made 54 appearances with one goal and assist during that time. He made his debut at 17 with the club during the Copa Maradona in 2020.
When you watch Aude, you can see he has the speed and athleticism to make recoveries and go forward with the ball, as well as the ability to dribble out of pressure (which Vanney won't likely ask him to do) and find the right pass when under pressure. He also gets into good crossing positions quite often. Take a look at his heatmap from the 2022 season with Lanús courtesy of SofaScore:
In case your interested, here is the heatmap of rumored LA Galaxy target Julian Aude with Lanús in 2022 #LAGalaxy pic.twitter.com/mVv2YcM5Ga
— Alex Ruiz (@AlxRuiz15) March 7, 2023
The Argentine is also aggressive defensively and a frequent slide tackler who at times can overcommit to challenges. But he has the engine you'd expect of a 19-year-old and the body positioning of a more experienced player. If he was to sign for the Galaxy, it would be an open question of whether he would immediately make Vanney's starting lineup.
In the loss to Dallas, Edwards was bodied off the ball by Paul Arriola on the edge of the box in the buildup to Alan Velasco's equalizer and later couldn't recover to catch Arriola as the U.S. men's national team winger set up his second assist of the night.
Edwards is a converted fullback after years of playing as a wide midfielder. His strengths include using his athleticism to make recoveries and interceptions, but he can struggle in 1-on-1 defending situations and with defensive positioning.
Backup left back Chase Gasper also hasn't performed well in his 17 MLS appearances since his arrival to the club. And if the Galaxy is going to shop the international market, they have to do so before the primary MLS transfer window closes on April 24. As part of their sanctions for violating MLS roster rules to bring Cristian Pavon to the club in 2019, LA is not allowed to make any international signings during the 2023 secondary window.
