The MLS champion Galaxy traded center back Jalen Neal to Montreal on Monday for $650,000 in general allocation money. It is the second significant trade the team has made since winning the MLS Cup a month ago, following the December move that send midfielder Gastón Brugman, the most valuable player of the championship game, to Nashville.
But the latest trade comes as a surprise given Neal’s age — he’s 21 — and his club-friendly salary, which paid him $178,625 last season, his second with the team. Hours after news of the trade was leaked, Neal was called up to the national team for its January training camp.
The Galaxy will also receive an international roster spot in the deal and will retain a sell-on percentage of any transfer fee if Neal is sold to another club.
The Galaxy are under pressure to trade salary to get under the MLS payroll cap of $5.95 million in 2025 after two players, forward Dejan Joveljic and winger Gabriel Pec, aged out of contracts that took just limited hits against the cap. However Monday’s trade leaves the Galaxy with just two center backs under contract in Emiro Garcés and Eriq Zavaleta. The team said it remains in negotiations with center back Maya Yoshida, the Galaxy captain whose contract expired last month. The team has also been linked to Ecuadorian center back Diogo Bagüí, 19, and Dane Mathias Jorgensen. A deal with Jorgensen is said to be near, people with knowledge of negotiations not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times.
Neal, a native of Lakewood, joined the Galaxy academy in 2016 before making his MLS debut in 2023, when he made 14 starts. He also started 14 times last seasons and made 34 appearances overall despite missing 11 months with a sports hernia and adductor injuries that required multiple surgeries.
At the international level, he has made six appearances for the senior national team. Neal was also named the Galaxy’s humanitarian of the year the last two seasons in recognition of his community work.
“Jalen exemplifies what it means to be a Galaxy academy graduate, both as a professional and as a person,” general manager Will Kuntz said in a statement. “His progression from the academy, to Galaxy II, to debuting with the national team to being on the field for the final whistle of the MLS Cup final speaks volumes to the potential of the Galaxy’s professional development pathway.
“But Jalen’s devotion to his local community and active engagement in service at such a young age is an even greater testament to the special character and human being that he is. We are indescribably proud of everything that Jalen has done for the Galaxy.”
