CARSON, Calif. – Gyasi Zardes is not going anywhere.
That’s the message given by Galaxy head coach and general manager Bruce Arena and club president Chris Klein as they formulate their squad for the upcoming 2016 preseason in January.
The 24-year-old Galaxy Homegrown Product has been the subject of much speculation throughout the year, but the club’s brass is adamant that the forward will remain with the team for the 2016 campaign.
“We fully anticipate having Gyasi back with the Galaxy,” Arena recently told LA Galaxy Insider.
Zardes enjoyed a solid year in 2015 that saw him make 33 appearances for the Galaxy across all competitions while scoring nine goals and adding one assist.
Despite not matching his goal tally from 2014, Zardes became a regular with the U.S. National Team by playing in 19 games and scoring three goals for Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad. Zardes’ appearance tally allowed the Hawthorne product to tie Claudio Reyna’s appearance record for a player in their first year with the national team.
“Gyasi is a kid that grew up in our backyard. He came through our Academy and succeeded for our club, and now he’s succeeding for the national team. We’re very proud of that," Klein, who admitted Zardes has two-years left his current deal, told LA Galaxy Insider. "I think the most exciting thing is to look at Gyasi and to see the type of person that he is and to understand that he continues to work hard and has a long way to go. That’s exciting for our club, that’s exciting for our fans, and it’s exciting for Gyasi. We want to continue to see him score a lot of goals in a Galaxy shirt.”
Not only are the Galaxy eager to welcome back their talented Homegrown forward back for yet another season at StubHub Center, but Klein believes that Zardes is only one of a treasure trove of local talent that the Galaxy possess for the future.
“Gyasi is a player who has done very well and has progressed in our system. We think he has a long way to go, but we also think through our Academy that there are more Gyasis,” Klein said. “There are more players coming up that no one has ever heard of that we get to see on a daily basis that are going to continue to come through our system.”
