LA Galaxy sign goalkeeper Richard Sanchez

The LA Galaxy announced on Tuesday they have signed goalkeeper Richard Sanchez on a one-year contract, with a club option for the 2023 season.

The 27-year-old joins after a well-traveled career around North America. Beginning his pro career out of the FC Dallas academy in 2011, he was sold to Liga MX power Tigres UANL in 2014. However, the youngster was buried on the depth chart at both clubs and never made a first-team appearance for them, although he had loan stints at Ft. Lauderdale Strikers and Tampico Madero, where he did feature.

In 2017, out of contract, Sanchez returned to MLS, signing for the Chicago Fire, where he made 27 appearances in two seasons. In 2020, he joined Sporting Kansas City and made a couple appearances for the first team when Tim Melia was unavailable. Last year, he returned “home,” in a sense, featuring for FC Dallas’ reserve team, North Texas SC, where he made 18 appearances in USL League One.

If you’re familiar with Sanchez, it’s likely based on his international background. He was a Mexico youth international, and featured in both the U-17 and U-20 World Cups for El Tri. However, he’s a local-ish, having been born in Mission Hills. So he won’t require an international slot.

It seems likely Sanchez will compete for the backup slot with Jonathan Klinsmann, and may or may not spend time featuring for LA Galaxy II in 2022. He hasn’t played a ton, to be honest, but he has a pedigree and should Jonathan Bond not be available for whatever reason, hopefully he or Klinsmann can rise to the challenge and feature if necessary.

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