Galaxy acquires Sebastian Lletget from England’s West Ham United

Reporting from San Jose —  The Galaxy has been expecting a midfield reinforcement from the English Premier League. It just wasn’t anticipating the first one to arrive would be former U.S. youth international Sebastian Lletget, a former West Ham United player the Galaxy signed Friday.

The team will still have to wait for the July transfer window to get Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, but it could have Lletget training with the first team next week. He will be added to the roster when his international transfer certificate is complete.

In accordance with Major League Soccer’s “Discovery Process” rules, the Galaxy had to pay the New England Revolution $50,000 in allocation money to sign Lletget.

“Sebastian is a young, talented attacking player who we think can find success in our team,” Bruce Arena, the Galaxy’s coach and general manager, said in a statement. “We’re happy to have him return to his home state to join the Galaxy and we look forward to his contributions going forward.”

Lletget, 22, a San Francisco native, played for Sporting Santa Clara before joining West Ham United’s youth system in 2009. He made his first-team debut in 2014 in an FA Cup match against Nottingham Forest.

Internationally, Lletget has made multiple appearances for U.S. youth national teams, having been called up to the U-17, U-20 and U-23 teams.