Major League Soccer has a designated player problem.



Two MLS teams currently have four DPs and a transfer window deadline to figure out how to comply with MLS league rules, which stipulate that a team may have no more than three of them. Each case is a dilemma of the team’s own design. In Atlanta, there is hope the price on presumed winter departure Miguel Almirón will climb closer to their demands. In Los Angeles, superstar forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic commanded a salary in his second MLS season that fit closer to his actual market value.



The solutions for the clubs vary, but the Galaxy’s problem is far stickier. Atlanta has long been expected to sell Almirón and is still likely to move him to Europe before the January transfer window closes. The Galaxy, meanwhile, may be looking at buying out Mexican star Giovani dos Santos, a player who was paid a guaranteed $6 million last season and for whom a buyout would cost in that same...