LA Galaxy have sold winger Gabriel Pec to Brazilian club Cruzeiro for a club-record fee, confirmed in July 2026. Reports in the United States put the deal at 12 million dollars up front, with a further 1.5 million dollars available in add-ons, taking the total value to around 13.5 million dollars. It is the biggest sale in LA Galaxy's history. Cruzeiro have handed the 25-year-old a five-year contract that runs until June 2031, bringing him back to Brazilian football for the first time since he left Vasco da Gama for the United States in January 2024.
Cruzeiro moved for Pec because he offers proven end product from a wide position, something coach Artur Jorge's side have needed as they push on two fronts this year in the Brasileirao and the Copa Libertadores. Pec is comfortable cutting in off the right to shoot or arriving late in the box, and his numbers in MLS suggested he could make an immediate difference back in Brazil's top flight. Signing him also fits a broader trend of leading Brazilian clubs bringing home players who left for Europe or North America once they have proven themselves at a high level, rather than waiting for them to move on to a bigger European league first.
For LA Galaxy, this is a significant loss. Pec arrived from Vasco da Gama in January 2024 and quickly became one of the most productive attackers in MLS, scoring 43 goals and adding 28 assists in 101 appearances across all competitions. He was named MLS Newcomer of the Year and an MLS All-Star in his debut season, and he was a key figure as the club won the Western Conference and the MLS Cup in 2024. Galaxy general manager Will Kuntz said Pec's "impact on the Galaxy was felt from his first day in Los Angeles," reflecting how quickly he became central to the team's attack.
Pec was still in excellent form when the move was agreed. In the 2026 season he had played 20 matches for LA Galaxy, scoring 11 goals and setting up four more, keeping him among the league's most involved attackers right up until his departure. That consistency across two and a half seasons, rather than one standout campaign, is what convinced Cruzeiro to pay a club-record fee to take him back to Brazil.
At Cruzeiro, Pec is expected to operate on the right of the attack, where his pace and directness should give Artur Jorge's side another way to break down deep defences in the Brasileirao and a genuine goal threat in the Libertadores. Given the size of the fee and the length of his contract, he arrives as a first-team fixture rather than a squad option, and Cruzeiro will want him producing the kind of numbers domestically that he managed in MLS.
The move also closes the book on a short but eventful spell in the United States. Pec leaves LA Galaxy as a title winner and a club-record sale, while Cruzeiro gain an attacker who is arriving in the form of his career rather than as a reclamation project.