Friday Newsletter: LAFC Makes a Statement with Gareth Bale Signing, Carlos Vela Extension
Plus more fallout from FIFA's World Cup 2026 host cities reveal, and I answer your Mailbag questions
IF LAFC ENDS UP WINNING THE MLS CUP IN 2022, the turning-point day in realizing those goals will have been today, June 25. That’s the day that Tom Bogert tweeted LAFC was set to sign Gareth Bale on a non-Designated Player deal and Taylor Twellman tweeted LAFC had re-signed star Carlos Vela to a new contract.
LAFC, which already leads the league in points (30), also recently signed Italian centerback Giorgio Chiellini to a non-DP deal and still has one more DP spot to fill. What are my thoughts on all that? Let’s break it down:
Los Angeles and Miami were up in the air as [World Cup 2026] host cities until the final day. FIFA very much wanted both L.A. and Miami to be in the final group, and the cities knew that, which is why there was plenty of pushback in the final stages after FIFA tried to strong-arm the cities with a late addendum to wrest more concessions from the candidate host cities.
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