LA Galaxy 2022 Player Postmortem: Gastón Brugman

Gastón Brugman was an intriguing addition to the LA Galaxy in the summer of 2022.

The veteran midfielder was far from a household name, moving to Italy from his native Uruguay as a youth player and turning pro in 2011 with Empoli. He bounced between Serie A and Serie B at a series of smaller clubs, before moving for a season on loan at Spanish second division side Real Oviedo.

In some ways, he’s a strong MLS signing, not a star but a strong pro. At the same time, the track record of players with the same kind of resumé in MLS have a mixed record over the years.

But Brugman was billed as a defensive midfielder, a need for the Galaxy midfield as they reached a malaise midseason. Without a…