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Minnesota United is in advanced talks to trade left back Chase Gasper to Los Angeles Galaxy, a source confirmed to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
MLSsoccer.com’s Tom Bogert was first to report the trade’s framework.
The Loons were working on transaction as the primary transfer window closed Wednesday. The club consulted with Gasper as the 26-year-old defender re-establishes himself after spending a month in a substance abuse treatment program in Southern California.
Minnesota has received inquiries on Gasper for years, including from Norwegian side Viking, but MNUFC signed him to a new four-year contact last September. Yet the calls for the left-footed player kept coming in this week.
Independent of Gasper’s off-the-field issues, the Loons in mid-April were able to acquire left back Kemar Lawrence, an MLS Best XI talent who the club had sought for years. Lawrence’s arrival and insertion into the starting lineup made the club more open to trading Gasper, if he wanted a fresh start. Gasper, who played three years of collegiate soccer at UCLA, gave consent, the Pioneer Press understands.
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Gasper, 26, spent a month at the Cliffside Malibu substance treatment center from mid-March to mid-April after he voluntarily entered the MLS’ Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program.
After he was reinstated, Gasper spoke to reporters April 19 and wanted to destigmatize issues relating to “anxiety, depression and addiction.” He said he had been suffering in silence for roughly eight years and had “reached a tipping point.”
“I can’t thank everyone enough, this club, all my teammates, coaches, all the staff, especially the fans. I felt all their love and support and it helped me during a really important time in my life, a tough time,” Gasper told reporters. “It just means the world to be back here with the family that I love and excited to be back on the field.
Gasper played 5,411 minutes in 63 games for Minnesota since 2019, but he did not appear in an MLS game for the club in 2022. Since his rehab stay, Gasper played for MNUFC’s developmental team and in the U.S. Open Cup game at Forward Madison. He was an unused sub in the 2-0 road loss to LAFC on Sunday.
The departure of Gasper breaks up the Loons’ highly successful 2019 draft class, which included goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and midfielder Hassani Dotson. Minnesota drafted Gasper with the 15th overall pick that year and became a starter in June 2019 and was a mainstay through 2021.
Briefly
Minnesota United 2, the club’s new developmental team, made its first international signing in Trinidad and Tobago attacking midfielder Molik Khan on Wednesday. The 18-year-old debuted for his country’s men’s national team in a friendly against Bolivia in January. … MNUFC2 also announced it has acquired 19-year-old Argentine midfielder Ignacio Gutierrez on loan from Velez Sarsfield. It’s the same Argentine club where Loons’ first-team striker Luis Amarilla arrived from via transfer in the offseason.
