After seeing Laurent Ciman leaving the club to play in France this summer, LAFC are now facing the possibility of losing another reliable center back. According to MLS Soccer reporter Sam Stejskal, Walker Zimmerman turned down the latest contract offer from LAFC and is looking to make a move to Europe.
Zimmerman, whose contract expires at the end of this season, isn’t against staying in Los Angeles, but he is reportedly “looking for an offer above the MLS maximum budget charge.” That figure for 2019 is probably going to be higher than $500,000; a number LAFC are not willing to go over. The 25-year-old currently makes $235,000.
Sources close to the situation say that there are several European clubs interested in Walker Zimmerman at the moment including teams from Germany, England, and France. Zimmerman, who reportedly already has one written offer from Europe, can immediately sign a pre-contract and commit to join his new team in January or wait until his contract expires and make his decision then.
Walker Zimmerman made his professional debut with FC Dallas in 2013 and went on to play 89 games for the team before being traded to LAFC in late 2017. He played 20 regular season games for the team, all of them as a starter. Zimmerman is also a U.S. international, having made his debut for the senior team in 2017.
