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LOS ANGELES , Jun 13 (AP) \u2014 Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini has signed with Los Angeles FC after a 17-year career at Juventus.<\/p>\n
The Major League Soccer club announced its deal Monday for the 37-year-old Chiellini, who is committed through the 2023 season.<\/p>\n
Chiellini confirmed his long-reported move with two posts on Twitter. He will be formally introduced in Los Angeles on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt very strongly about this new chapter in my career and I\u2019m grateful to (at)LAFC for this opportunity,\u201d Chiellini wrote. \u201cI\u2019m thankful for all my years with Juventus and I\u2019m looking forward to winning many more trophies in Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chiellini had been at Juventus since 2005, winning nine Serie A titles and five Coppa Italia crowns. He formally left the Turin club last month, and he also played his final match June 1 for the Italian national team, which failed to qualify for the World Cup.<\/p>\n
LAFC has been in contact with Chiellini\u2019s twin brother, Claudio, about a potential move since last year, general manager John Thorrington said. The talks picked up after Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup in March, with LAFC moving aggressively to land the veteran center back with a reputation for sturdy physical play and leadership as Juve\u2019s captain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have the opportunity to get someone who does what he does, and when we have 100% confidence that he\u2019s going to improve every player every day he\u2019s here, it became a no-brainer,\u201d Thorrington told The Associated Press. \u201cHis playing record speaks for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
LAFC is on top of the overall MLS standings at 9-3-2 coming out of the international break. Coach Steve Cherundolo\u2019s club leads the league in scoring and is also one of the best defensive clubs, with Jesus Murillo and Mamadou Fall playing most of the minutes at center back while Eddie Segura was out with an injury.<\/p>\n
Unlike some MLS clubs, LAFC hasn\u2019t signed many veteran players deep in the second half of their careers since beginning play as an expansion club in 2018. Instead, LAFC has frequently relied on saleable young players around former MLS MVP striker Carlos Vela, who is expected to announce a contract extension soon.<\/p>\n
Thorrington said the opportunity to sign Chiellini was too tantalizing to resist. While LAFC will have to ease Chiellini into a new squad shortly after a full season of Serie A and international play, Thorrington believes his club will reap benefits immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to go so far as to say even if he doesn\u2019t play, it would be worth it, but certainly when he\u2019s playing or when he\u2019s not playing, his impact will go far beyond when he\u2019s playing,\u201d Thorrington said. \u201cAnd when he\u2019s playing, he will certainly make a good group of defenders even better. He\u2019s a really good communicator. He organizes. He speaks good English. He\u2019ll be able to connect with the guys playing alongside of him and in front of him. My expectations of what he would be like were very high, and he exceeded them.\u201d<\/p>\n
LAFC made the move with a deal using targeted allocation money, which means Chiellini won\u2019t occupy one of the three designated player roster spots which don\u2019t count against the normal salary cap. LAFC hopes to add a third designated player soon, likely at an attacking position, as the club pursues its first MLS Cup title.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing the interest in MLS from players at every stage in their careers,\u201d Thorrington said. \u201cWe\u2019re becoming a much more attractive place to play, and when we look at the growth of the sport in this country and the growth of LAFC, I think Giorgio will play a significant part in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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LOS ANGELES , Jun 13 (AP) \u2014 Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini has signed with Los Angeles FC after a 17-year career at Juventus. The Major League Soccer club announced its deal Monday for the 37-year-old Chiellini, who is committed through the 2023 season. Chiellini confirmed his long-reported move with two posts on Twitter. He will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-192990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192990\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}