GOAL

LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena has confirmed the club's signing of Giovani dos Santos from Villarreal.

The versatile attacker has penned a four-and-a-half-year contract with the MLS champions, who have been trying to acquire the former Barcelona man since 2011

The MLS champions have been pursuing the Mexico international, who is currently is international duty at the Concacaf Gold Cup, since 2011 and he has now signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Californian-based outfit.

"It’s going to be a challenge for him," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena told The LA Times. "He's not been at a club yet where he's had those kind of responsibilities. 

"And he's in a community where he's going to be sought after. He's going to have to be mature about it."

Dos Santos' signing was made possible by MLS' recently introduced "core player" rule, which can allow teams to essentially field four designated players. Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane and Omar Gonzalez are the Galaxy's current DPs.

Citing a club source, The LA Times reports that former Barcelona starlet Dos Santos will make less than Gerrard's salary of $6 million (€5.5m) a year but the size of the 26-year-old's transfer fee has not yet been disclosed.