Arena's XI: How the LA Galaxy circumvented the MLS salary cap

When the LA Galaxy sold Omar Gonzalez and Juninho to Mexico, manager Bruce Arena was left short-handed.

Until he wasn't.

As the rest of Major League Soccer slept through December, the Galaxy began plotting their boldest attempt at circumventing the spirit of the league's roster rules yet - and it worked.

Here's how:

(Courtesy: @LAGalaxy)

The Galaxy reportedly pocketed $2.25 million from Gonzalez and Juninho, then added a pair of defenders in former England stalwart Ashley Cole and Belgian Jelle Van Damme.

The Galaxy were already pretty tight against the $3.7-million salary cap, with all three designated-player spots filled for Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, and Giovani Dos Santos.

At $500,000 per year, Van Damme replaces Gonzalez in the middle of the back line. Straightforward enough. At $300,000, Cole is something of a luxury, given that incumbent left-back Robbie Rogers performed admirably in 2015. He even signed a contract extension.

Those numbers make sense. At 35, Cole cannot command a massive fee any longer. Van Damme came out of the Belgian league, like the Montreal Impact's Laurent Ciman, who earns $401,666 per year.

Van Damme's salary can be paid with the newly-revamped Targeted Allocation Money rule, a $1.6-million injection of cash invested by the league for each team over the next two years. Cole counts against the cap as any other foreign signing might.

In the murky world of MLS contracts, where terms are almost never disclosed, anything that makes a semblance of sense is refreshing. And, as it stood, things did make sense in the City of Angels.

Then, the LA Galaxy signed Dutch international midfielder Nigel de Jong for a reported $500,000 per year.

Something doesn't quite make sense.

De Jong is not a done-and-dusted footballer. Had the 31-year-old joined any other MLS team, the Dutch destroyer would be on a multi-million dollar DP contract of his own.

So how did Arena get his man? The key player is Gerrard.

On $6,332,504 per year, the former Liverpool captain is expected to retire at the end of the 2016 season. Arena's challenge wasn't to get De Jong's wage to fit in an already-too-tight salary cap ... it was to get it to fit in 2017.

"That took a little political work to make that happen," Arena admitted.

It's a complicated deal, but the crux of it is that De Jong's multi-year contract is back-ended so the bulk of his salary comes from the second year onward. Gerrard won't be around then, and another DP spot will be open.

The LA Galaxy are no strangers to bending the roster rules.

David Beckham's signing introduced the DP rule; Landon Donovan's demands doubled the rule to two players; Keane pushed it to three; Gonzalez introduced the first iteration of TAM funds and the Galaxy used it to play the 2015 season with four players making over $1 million.

Perhaps in an effort to keep Gonzalez in 2016, MLS introduced a new wave of TAM funds. Conveniently, $800,000 over two years might have been enough to help the Galaxy make the numbers work and keep their star defender.

Instead, they sold him to Pachuca and signed three new stars.

"Whenever we do anything, everyone in the league is there giving their opinion whether we can do it or not," Arena said.

There isn't a rule that explicitly says teams can't back-end contracts. But the spirit of the rule is such that each team is limited to three big-money contracts. The LA Galaxy took a look at the rule-book and doubled that star limit.

And they're doing it, in 2016, at a cut-rate price:

(Courtesy: SOFIFA)

That lineup consists of two young U.S. internationals and six star players who have extensive experience in top-flight European competition. One has to wonder how a league built on the principle of parity can afford the Galaxy its star-studded team.

It seems MLS changes its rules when it benefits the entire league, adding a "Core DP" rule to keep the likes of Matt Besler and Graham Zusi at Sporting KC, for example, and paying the $9-million transfer fee to bring Clint Dempsey to the Seattle Sounders.

In the end, the Galaxy are roster compliant, but only just. And yet, MLS is a better league for it - at least for neutral fans.

(All contract figures courtesy: The Los Angeles Times)