Landon Donovan still has some magic in his legs and he decided to show it by coming out of retirement for the second time in his career. The difference is that this time he isn’t coming back to MLS, but will play in Mexico. The member of Liga MX Club León announced that they have signed a one-year deal with Donovan, officially introducing the player on Monday.
“It wasn’t easy [to bring him to Club Leon], but the fact he was here in Leon helped us a lot,” – said team’s sporting director Rodrigo Fernandez. “He got to know the city, the stadium, some of the facilities this great club has, and that helped persuade him. With the mentality, he has he is coming to contribute. He’s a winner, and he’s coming to produce.“
Although Donovan didn’t play soccer professionally since 2016, that doesn’t present much of a problem for Club León’s manager Gustavo Diaz.
“Personally, it is a great honour to manage great players and Donovan is an excellent footballer,” – said Diaz. “It’s a special situation and we hope to be up to the task and be able to extract a little more of his quality.“
Landon Donovan is regarded by many as the greatest American soccer player of all time. He currently leads the USMNT in assists, while being tied with Clint Dempsey as an all-time leader in scoring. Donovan also won record six MLS Cups and holds leads the league in all-time scoring (145 goals) and assists (136). Landon Donovan spent most of his career with LA Galaxy, playing occasionally on loans in Europe including Bayern Munich and Everton.
The 35-year-old forward retired for the first time in 2014. He then came back towards the end of the 2016 season, playing in six regular season games and three in the playoffs for LA Galaxy before retiring once again.
