MLS Mix 24: The player who built a club.
Last weekend LAFC paid tribute to Carlos Vela, one of the most influential players in MLS history.
When Carlos Vela was first introduced as an LAFC player in August 2017 he was taking a leap of faith.
The 70-cap Mexican international had spent the past eight years in Spain with Real Sociedad, making more than 200 LaLiga appearances. But Vela, still only 28 years old, was returning to North America to join a team that had not yet played a single competitive fixture.
And when co-owner Will Ferrell welcomed Vela to the stage at California Science Center, he was unable to present the new signing with a team jersey, because they didn’t have one yet. In fact, at the time of Vela’s arrival LAFC had no kit, no stadium and no other players of any note.
“It’s OK,” Vela joked at his unveiling. “I can play alone if you want.”
A little more than eight years on from that understated welcome, Vela says goodbye to LAFC as one of the most influential players in MLS history.
Last Sunday the club’s Noche de Carlos Vela was a communal farewell to the man who established LAFC as one of the most dominant teams in MLS, helping them to achieve more in eight seasons than many other clubs have managed in 30. He leaves the team as perennial MLS Cup contenders, with a roll call of A-List stars at every game and a billion-dollar valuation.
That’s why Sunday’s final goodbye at BMO Stadium felt so significant. More than pretty much any other player in the modern game, Vela helped to build a club from the ground up. His talent, his profile and his Mexican nationality helped the club connect with the previously untapped Hispanic community in Los Angeles, creating a sporting culture now renowned across U.S. soccer.
Vela was the last survivor of the LAFC team that first joined the league back in 2018 and his departure marks a new era for the club in a season that has carried an air of finality.
For the first half of 2025 it looked like a successful team was finally turning stale. The statement signing of Olivier Giroud had not paid off and he was quietly offloaded on a free. Head coach Steve Cherundolo, the man who delivered the club’s first championship, announced that he would step down at the end of the season. That news came during a bleak run of two wins in eight games.
LAFC suddenly looked off the pace, while MLS newbies and California rivals San Diego FC surged past them with a fresher, more vibrant style of play. They desperately needed something to kick-start their stalling season. Fortunately, they found it in the form of Son Heung-min.
Not much more needs to be said about the MLS-record signing of Son earlier this summer. In fact, the sporting, commercial and cultural importance of the move were outlined here, in this very newsletter.
The expectations were dizzyingly high. And yet Son has surpassed them, forming a devastating attacking partnership with the mercurial Denis Bouanga.
Since Son scored his first MLS goal on August 23, LAFC have hit 14 goals in five games. Incredibly, all 14 have been scored by either Son Heung-min or Denis Bouanga. It’s a ridiculous record, one which marks them out as the most destructive attacking duo in the league right now, a rare example of two elite talents who dovetail perfectly.
Bouanga’s Sunday night hat-trick against Real Salt Lake puts him level with Lionel Messi in the MLS Golden Boot standings and top of LAFC’s all-time scoring list. He replaces Carlos Vela.
So where Vela’s long-trailed farewell could have felt like the ending of an era for LAFC, it now feels more like a changing of the guard.
Bouanga has been LAFC’s outstanding player for the past two seasons, while Son is one of the finest talents to ever make the move to MLS. He follows in the footsteps of Giorgio Chiellini, Gareth Bale and Hugo Lloris, players that few other MLS teams would be able to attract.
And while LAFC’s wealth and location undoubtedly play a part, it is difficult to imagine them looking quite so attractive had they not been catapulted into championship contention by Carlos Vela.
In 2019, the team’s second season in MLS, Vela smashed the MLS scoring record with 34 goals in 31 games and led the team to a Supporters’ Shield title. He was given the nickname ‘El Rey’ by LAFC fans. The King.
Vela and LAFC then won the Supporters’ Shield again in 2022, and went on to win their first MLS Cup that same year. He has twice helped the team to the final of the Concacaf Champions League, elevating LAFC to continental prominence. The goals, the trophies, the moments; all of it helped to turn a young club into an established giant.
So while Sunday night was another installment of the Son-Bouanga show, it was the departing Vela who took center stage. A huge ‘Gracias Carlos Vela’ tifo emerged from the 3252 supporters’ section. Players’ jerseys were adorned with a unique patch to mark the occasion. Every single fan in attendance was gifted a ‘Vela 10’ t-shirt and encouraged to write messages to the former captain on a display erected outside the stadium.
But perhaps most telling were the words from Son Heung-min, after witnessing fans’ adoration for the player who had helped to build their club. Asked about the reception that Vela received on his farewell, Son replied:
“One day, I want to be like him as well. So when I'm retiring, when I come back to LA, everybody welcomes me like this.”