The ex-USA international is leading the west-coast outfit's charge towards global recognition - but they still need the big guns to help them along, he says...
LA Galaxy president Chris Klein has told FourFourTwo that the MLS champions still need to lean on world football's giants to achieve their long-term goals.
The Galaxy have again disrupted their current MLS campaign with high-profile friendlies against Club America and Barcelona in the International Champions Cup, and on a wider scale saw a handful of their stars selected for an MLS All-Star XI against Tottenham.
But Klein says matches like those are essential if the club - and by extension, league - are to make strides.
"It’s an interesting conversation," he tells FFT. "Our approach is that if they’re going to be coming here then we want to be involved. In the past couple of years we’ve hosted Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
"Do we get to a point where in the middle of our season we’re not playing friendlies? Possibly. But we’re not there yet, so as I sit before you in 2015 it’s something that will continue in future."
The west-coast outfit also snapped up Steven Gerrard to follow in the footsteps of former England team-mate David Beckham - and Klein says Galaxy were the only club the Reds legend would have considered.
"Steven’s unique; he’s been at Liverpool since he was eight years old," said Klein. "It was really something that came together when it was the right time for us, and if he was going to leave Liverpool then we were going to be the club for him.
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"He’s a tremendous leader, and his quality on the field you can’t argue with. He’s going to help there, but beyond that he can talk to the young players. In terms of our brand and who we are he also has the reach because of his status in Europe. To have a player like that in a Galaxy shirt is important to us."
"We have to [attract big games]. We’ve just signed Giovani dos Santos who’s 26. Steven Gerrard is 35. [It’s about] when we can bring these players in, but the league has to continue to attract bigger-name stars from Europe or South America. That’s one piece of it."
To watch the full interview with Chris Klein, hit play on the video above. Chris was speaking at the Doha GOALS 'Gathering of all Leaders in Sport'.
Joe was the Deputy Editor at FourFourTwo until 2022, having risen through the FFT academy and been on the brand since 2013 in various capacities.
By weekend and frustrating midweek night he is a Leicester City fan, and in 2020 co-wrote the autobiography of former Foxes winger Matt Piper – subsequently listed for both the Telegraph and William Hill Sports Book of the Year awards.
