Juan Pablo Angel trained with Chivas USA for the first time on Tuesday and now the deal is sealed.

The Galaxy get a third round 2012 Supplemental Draft pick in exchange for the former EPL star with Aston Villa; Chivas USA get a veteran striker who scored more MLS goals than any other player in the last four seasons with New York, but managed just three for the Galaxy since joining them as a replacement for Edson Buddle.

“I hope the season is better for me compared to how it began,” Angel said. “I now have the opportunity to help a team that has worked very hard to get where it is. Despite certain difficulties in the beginning of the year, this team has, little-by-little, found its best level of play. The coach has communicated his plan and the players understand it. I need to adapt very quickly and try to help the team earn a spot in the playoffs.”

So after three years of saying it wanted a designated player or at least a top scorer, Chivas USA finally has one, albeit a castoff from their closest rivals. Angel’s departure makes room for EPL striker Robbie Keane who has agreed terms with the Galaxy; the former Spurs player could make his debut against San Jose this weekend.

“Juan Pablo is a great pick up for us because he knows how to score goals,” Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser said. “Outside of his experience and ability on the field, he’s a classy person and I think that another experienced classy person in our locker-room is a positive.

“Since the first day I arrived, I’ve been asked, “Who’s going to score goals for you?” Fraser added. “I have said all along that we would score goals by committee and as a group we’ve done a good job of finding opportunities, creating opportunities and finishing some.

Certainly now we have a player who is renowned for scoring goals. If we continue to play well and we incorporate a player who knows his way around the box, it’s going to be a good fit”.

The dance is done.

The Galaxy confirmed today they have signed Tottenham Hotspur striker Robbie Keane on a two-year deal ending a weekend (or so) worth of speculation.

Tweeted Galaxy exec Tom Payne:

The Galaxy have acquired Robbie Keane! I hope all Galaxy fans will be excited by this news. We needed a forward and our company came thru!

No confirmation yet on whether Juan Pablo Angel is being shipped to Chivas USA or elsewhere to make room for Keane on the roster.

I’m heading out to Galaxy training this morning and will have more later.

Updated

*Terms of Keane’s contract, including duration, were not announced by the Galaxy today.

*The earliest Keane could see action is Saturday’s home game against the San Jose Earthquakes, but that depends on the timing of his paperwork.

*When Keane is added to the roster, the Galaxy will have to make a roster move, but it appears that will happen sooner rather than later anyway; Angel did not train with the Galaxy today. The transfer deadline to move within MLS is Aug. 30.

*The Galaxy agreed contract terms with Keane shortly before the close of the 8:59 p.m. Pacific Sunday close of the transfer window, although just how close it was to the deadline is unclear.

*Staff Writer Larry Morgan will have more on the move for Keane in Tuesday’s editions and I will too in an accompanying column that also previews Tuesday’s CONCACAF Champions League game.

Galaxy bound? Fiery Irish striker Robbie Keane is on his way to the Galaxy media reports suggested today – and the Galaxy have not denied the rumors (AP Photo).

Multiple media reports today have linked Tottenham Hotspur striker Robbie Keane,31, to the Galaxy with forward Juan Pablo Angel being traded to an East Coast MLS team to make room for a player that would become the latest Los Angeles DP.

The Galaxy have not denied the reports:

“We are always looking to improve our squad and have contacted or been contacted by a host of players during the current transfer window,” said a club statement. “As soon as we have something confirmed in regards to any potential player acquisitions we will be sure to alert you.”

The Galaxy never confirm transfer rumors until the deal is done.

Most commonly cited among the various figures for Kean’s MLS salary: Somewhere around $8 to $9 million over two years.

Keane, who is married to an Irish model, has been linked with the Galaxy in the past. The out-of-favor striker said earlier this week he expected to move from Tottenham before the transfer window closes.

Keane is the all time leading scorer for Ireland with 51 goals in 108 appearances; he spent much of last season on loan to now-relegated EPL side West Ham United.

Angel, who scored more goals than any other MLS player in the last four years before joining the Galaxy in the offseason has been a major bust for LA, scoring just three times this season.

He has become the object of derision among many fans who have seen the failings of the Galaxy to feature a consistent out and out striker in the team as the reason for their failure to capture the MLS Cup despite coming close in the last two years.

“Maybe he’s lost a little confidence because he hasn’t had the kind of start he’s wanted,” Arena said Thursday of Angel.

Arena added that last year fans criticized the club for relying too much on Edson Buddle for goals and this year the club is being faulted for not having a high scoring forward.

American sporting public: meet MLS.

It’s one of the truths hard-core soccer fans like us don’t want to face: Major League Soccer is closer to Minor League Soccer for most casual sports fans in this country.

That’s why Los Angeles-based Fox Soccer Channel’s loss will be the sports’ gain when it switches to be the soon to be something other than Verses next year:

AP Sports Writer Rachel Cohen has the details:

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Soccer games will be televised by NBC’s networks starting next season, doubling the number of homes that dozens of games will be available in.

The package currently on Fox Soccer Channel will move mainly to the NBC Sports Network, Versus’ new name beginning Jan. 2. The cable channel will air 38 regular-season games, three playoff games and two U.S. men’s national team matches each year.

NBC will broadcast two regular-season MLS games, two playoff games and two national team appearances under the three-year contract announced Wednesday.

“It shows our sport is ready for prime time,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber told The Associated Press.

The deal became possible after Comcast, Versus’ parent company, officially took over NBCUniversal in January. Not only will a handful of games be available to a broader
audience on NBC, but Garber is confident soccer will get invaluable exposure through
advertising during the network’s coverage of other sports, from “Sunday Night Football” to the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Olympics.

“NBC is really famous for promoting their partners, and that’s a big driver in our decision to
do a deal with them,” Garber said.

Hockey, shown on both NBC and Versus since before the Comcast merger, has seen significant ratings growth in recent years.

“What they’ve done for the NHL I think is remarkable,” Garber said.

Garber was quick to note the league was approached by NBC.

“This was not an ask, it was an offer,” he said.

The cable games will go from being available in nearly 40 million households on Fox Soccer to almost 80 million on NBC Sports Network, which is in about two-thirds of American homes with televisions. Five regional Comcast sports networks also already broadcast games for their local MLS teams, adding to the opportunities for cross-promotion.

“Connecting the dots between all of their assets will ensure a broader audience for MLS and U.S. Soccer, and that’s really what this sport needs today,” Garber said. “If you look at the popularity of the World Cup and the almost ubiquity of the sport in America today, it’s a natural step we would evolve from what was a great relationship with Fox Soccer Channel, albeit a niche network, to broader broadcast, cable and digital platforms.”

ESPN will continue to broadcast its package of MLS games. Its strong ratings for last year’s World Cup are among many signs that the sport is becoming more of a force in American television.

“I don’t think the NBC deal is done if they didn’t believe MLS was ready to step further into
the mainstream,” Garber said.

Jon Miller, the president of programming of NBC Sports and Versus, said the networks are
committed to pregame and postgame shows and would like to find one day to serve as a showcase “Game of the Week” date.

He said the network found MLS appealing because it reaches a young, affluent demographic, ratings are growing, and that soccer is the “fastest growing sport in America.” He said the MLS reaches “blue chip” sponsors that can only help grow a sport that has struggled to find its footing in a crowded sports landscape.

“We’re proud to be along and hopefully we can accelerate the ride further,” Miller said.

I’ve seen the deal variously reported as $10 million a year (Sports Business Journal) or $12 million over three years (LA Times). By comparison, FSC supposedly paid $6.25 million this year on a one-year broadcast rights deal.

Still, it’s exposure that is the key here. (Incidentally, these national deals affect little the regional TV agreements the Galaxy and Chivas USA have).

Now, NBC has little soccer broadcast history.

But after the way ESPN, which supposedly does, treated the U.S.-Mexico game – refusing to cut away from an already decided Little League game, for crying out loud, – it’s time for a different approach.

I asked Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena about the deal today at a club media luncheon in Manhattan Beach ahead of next week’s CONCACAF Champions League opener (more on that in Tuesday’s column).

“It’s a major plus,” he said, adding that Anschutz Entertainment Group execs, the parent company of both the Galaxy and NHL Kings, have raved about the benefits Verses has brought to the club.

“This is an important part of the process,” Arena added, “to become identified more at the national level.”