It appears to be a new era for Los Angeles FC following tremendous offseason turnover, a consequence of the club’s success and how that has impacted its salary-cap space. Gone is more than half of last year’s on-field minutes and nearly half the starts, and some of the most iconic names aren’t on the roster heading into Saturday afternoon’s Major League Soccer opener with visiting Seattle Sounders FC.
The most iconic? Carlos Vela‘s. But let’s not be hasty.
The Mexican forward — the face, the captain of LAFC since the beginning — still has a presence at the club’s training center on the Cal State Los Angeles campus, and there’s great belief within the team that he will soon again be wearing the black and gold.
The club remains involved in talks with Vela, who has totaled 78 goals and 31 assists in 152 MLS matches over six seasons with the Angelenos, leading them to the Supporters’ Shield (scoring a league-record 34 goals) five years ago and to the Shield/MLS Cup double in 2022.
His contract expired in December, but a new one — altered by the cap realities, to be sure — could be on its way.
“I think he’ll always be part of LAFC,” head coach Steve Cherundolo said in his media availability Thursday. “And both parties are working towards a solution. That’s a great sign, and both parties want to, so leave it up to them.”
His locker remains intact, reports defender Aaron Long and midfielder Ilie Sanchez, so perhaps his days with the club are not finished.
“[Preseason work without Vela] has been a little bit different, for sure,” Long said. “He’s such a prominent figure, and not just a great player, but such a well-liked guy in the locker room. He still has his locker there with all his stuff in hope that maybe there’s something that can get worked out.”
Long said Sanchez, the midfield general, right back Ryan Hollingshead and new goalkeeper Hugo Lloris have stepped into the leadership void, and that he’s doing so, as well.
Whether Vela will be back, don’t ask him.
“I don’t know what’s going on in the front office,” Long said. “But in a perfect world, of course, I think everyone at the club says Carlos is here, right? But it’s difficult. As years go on, as people get older, as salary caps get full, [there are adjustments] to be made.”
Those adjustments, particularly for the latter, have been significant. Gone is four-year left back Diego Palacios, among MLS’s finest fullbacks, veteran midfielder Kellyn Acosta, defender Denil Maldonado, forward Mario Gonzalez, winger Stipe Biuk and goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and John McCarthy, two of the biggest title-game heroes two years ago. Plus Giorgio Chiellini, among LAFC’s most important leaders the past two years, has retired and taken a player-development role within the club. There’s a strong first-choice XI and young, rather thin depth behind it. Vela’s presence changes that somewhat.
“I really hope they’re going to find a way to bring back Carlos,” said Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga, “because we need Carlos on the field.”
Sanchez says the players have regular contact with Vela, that “he’s present, in one way or another.”
“He’s been asking about the dynamic of the preseason,” Sanchez said. “Obviously, it’s been different because you don’t have him on the field, but as Aaron says, we still have his things in the locker room and we’ve been in touch. So we’ll see what happens with him.”
Cherundolo says he has “a great relationship” with Vela, that “the door’s always open to him,” but that he leaves “the rest of the stuff” to co-president/general manager John Thorrington and the front office.
“Look, he was here six years, he’s our captain,” Cherundolo said. “Of course, he’s going to have a presence, and we don’t erase people [but keep] them in our memory here. We love Carlos, and I hope he’ll come back, but it’s up to him and the club.”