Jelle Van Damme is officially a member of the LA Galaxy. On Tuesday, the Major League Soccer club announced that the 32-year-old defender has become the seventh signing of the offseason for LA.

The Belgium international was brought to LA through Targeted Allocation Money (TAM). The details of the contract have not been made available to the public.

Galaxy almost done making moves

Van Damme will be placed on the roster as an international player. With the addition of the former Standard Liege captain, the Galaxy now have 26 out of a possible 28 players under contract. LA Galaxy head coach and general manager Bruce Arena is excited to have the six-feet-four-inches defender on his squad.

Arena speaks

"Jelle is an experienced, talented defender who will strengthen our back line," Arena said in a statement. "He joins our team with a wealth of experience playing at the highest levels of competition in the world. We look forward to adding him to our roster."

What does Van Damme bring?

The 32-year-old defender brings 15 years and counting of experience to the Galaxy. He has spent 10 of those years in his home country. During his time there, he played for three clubs: Germinal Beerschot (2001-2002), Anderlecht (2006-2010) and Standard Liege (2011-2016).

Van Damme also spent time in the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga and the Eredivisie. Additionally, the defender has experience playing in the UEFA Champions League with Ajax.

The Belgium defender will automatically fill the gap in the Galaxy’s backline which was created when U.S. international Omar Gonzalez was sold to Liga MX side C.F. Pachuca in December. Van Damme is more than capable of taking over that position, and helping LA’s defense recover from last year’s debacle finish. 

LA's defense was their downfall last season

In 2015, LA finished with a +10 goal differential, but they conceded 46 goals in the process. Their defense looked unorganized in the last two months of the season, and the Galaxy were eliminated in the Knockout Round for the first time.

Since 2010, the Galaxy has only finished one campaign where they surrendered more than 40 goals. That was in 2012, when they finished with 47 goals against and +12 goal differential. Yes they went on to win the MLS Cup that year, but that was due to Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and others stepping up to win the cup in what would prove to be David Beckham’s final year in MLS. Also, the team only allowed six goals and scored 12 in their post season run.

Van Damme infamous to American fans

Regardless of the fact that Van Damme has never played in the United States before, he is still well known to American soccer fans. In 2009, the Belgian native was sued for racially abusing former U.S. international defender Oguchi Onyewu during a match.

According to Fox Sports writer Kyle McCarthy, Galaxy officials did their own research on the incident between the two players. Additionally, Arena did not go through with the signing until he spoke to both sides first.

Clearly, with all moving past that incident in 2009, LA has their new anchor for the backline.