The Black & Gold has returned to the training pitch, with long-term planning and recent contract extensions placing the club in the enviable position of welcoming more than twenty MLS veterans into January camp. Here’s a quick look at the LAFC players currently under contract, in numerical order.
1 Hugo Lloris
GK
LAFC’s all-time leader in wins, clean sheets, and appearances in goal, Lloris served as the club’s captain for the second half of 2025 after Aaron Long sustained season-ending injury. Lloris led all LAFC players in regular-season minutes played last year (2,835), and his 12 clean sheets ranked second in MLS (tied with Kristian Kahlina of Charlotte).
4 Eddie Segura
D
When the 2025 season kicked off, no one expected that Segura would start 28 MLS matches and log more minutes than any other LAFC centerback. But that was before LAFC lost two centerbacks for the season due to injury and a third due to an expired contract.
Enter Steady Eddie, the longest tenured member of the Black & Gold, who came on and played sublimely and with passion, reminding us of the player he was before two knee surgeries set him back in 2021 and 2022. Headed into ’26 he gives LAFC a veteran who is not yet 29 and is coming off his most impressive season as a professional.
5 Ryan Porteous
D
Porteous also came to LAFC’s rescue in 2025 in the wake of the Black & Gold’s unexpected turnover at centerback. The Scottish international joined in early August from English Championship club Watford F.C., played the last 11 minutes of LAFC’s draw in Dallas on Aug. 23, and then never left the field. Porteous made 12 straight league starts, played all 300 minutes of LAFC’s MLS Cup Playoffs run, and combined with Segura and Nkosi Tafari to form a three-man back line that held strong during the most challenging phase of the season.
6 Igor Jesus
M
Before Jesus suffered a season-ending knee injury in late August, the 22-year-old stood fourth on the team in minutes played. “He's a monster,” defender Sergi Palencia said before Jesus went down. “This guy is unbelievable … If you ask any one of us who has surprised us the most this season, 100 percent of the guys would say Igor. The sky is the limit for him.”
The Brazilian defensive midfielder (whose late equalizer in the FIFA Club World Cup Play-In match preceded Denis Bouanga’s dramatic matchwinner in extra time) is expected to return sometime in 2026.
7 Son Heung-Min
F
One of three finalists for MLS Newcomer of the Year, Son did not transition into Major League Soccer as much as he assaulted it.
The South Korean star recorded 12 goals and four assists in just 13 games in 2025 (including playoffs), making a goal contribution every 68.9 minutes he was on the field, the second-best rate in the league (trailing only 2025 MVP Lionel Messi).
LAFC built a record of 9W-2L-4T after Son joined the club (including playoffs), as Son combinedwith Bouanga to record 25 goals and eight assists in that span. One of those goals – Son’s first in Black & Gold – was named the 2025 MLS Goal of the Year, but that honor was handed out before his free-kick thunderbolt against Vancouver that equalized the Western Conference Semifinal and went viral around the world.
What does Son’s sophomore season have in store?
8 Mark Delgado
M
Expectations were high when the two-time MLS Cup champ joined LAFC a year ago. In his first season with LAFC, Delgado delivered, making a club-best 34 regular-season appearances, tying a career high with three goals and logging a career-high nine assists in 2,583 minutes played - also a career high.
Expectations exceeded.
Delgado’s nine assists tied for tops on the team (with Bouanga). His matchwinning goal against Colorado advanced LAFC to the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 and endeared him to his new club’s supporters.
11 Timmy Tillman
M
Fifth on the team (among non-goalkeepers) in minutes played, Tillman contributed three assists in league play and added another assist in the FIFA Club World Cup, a quickly-played free-kick long ball that provided the Black & Gold’s only score of the tournament. Tillman was also fouled 56 times, more than any other LAFC player by far, setting up free kick opportunities or buying valuable time so his side could recover defensively.
His elite speed, plus his grit and selflessness, were noticed by the U.S. Men’s National Team, which called him up for two November friendlies, including his 74-minute shift in a 5-1 win over Paraguay, giving him an outside chance of making this year’s World Cup roster.
12 Thomas Hasal
GK
Playing behind one of the greatest goalkeepers in history (Lloris), Hasal did not expect many minutes in 2025. As the season progressed, however, the 6-foot-4 Canadian edged ahead of the competition and established himself as Lloris’ primary backup. In his Leagues Cup debut against Pachuca, Hasal conceded a single goal (on a deflected shot) while LAFC played down a man for nearly an hour. In the decisive penalty shootout Hasal made two acrobatic saves to earn LAFC an extra point. Against the All-Star lineup fielded by Tigres (who finished second in Liga MX’s 18-team Apertura table) Hasal made four saves in LAFC’s 2-1 victory.
14 Sergi Palencia
D
The durable and relentless right back scored his first goal in an LAFC shirt on April 12 and registered four regular-season assists (tied for 4th on the team) for the second consecutive year while leading LAFC non-goalkeepers in minutes played in the MLS regular season (2,811).
Palencia played all but three minutes during the team’s six-match run to the Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinals, and played every minute of LAFC’s FIFA Club World Cup campaign, including 30 extra minutes against Club América in the Play-In match.
These numbers, and his irreplaceable energy, are why the club re-signed Palencia In September for three more years, with options into 2030.
15 Lorenzo Dellavalle
D
Since joining LAFC2 in late 2023 and cracking the first team roster in January 2024, a knee injury has thwarted the Italian centerback’s efforts to enter the first-team rotation. Dellavalle's positive attitude and his connection with his teammates has never wavered, however.
Now fully fit and training without a brace, Dellavalle can draw inspiration from his hero Giorgio Chiellini, the former LAFC and Juventus defender who suffered a significant knee injury in 2019, then made a remarkable comeback to captain Italy to a UEFA Euros title in 2021.
17 Jeremy Ebobisse
F
The veteran MLS forward, who joined LAFC from San Jose, scored the matchwinning goal in LAFC’s season opener against Minnesota and provided valuable minutes and creative hold-up play as a starter and a substitute before getting hurt in early August. He spent the rest of that month and most of September rehabbing.
When the club needed him most (Son, Bouanga, and Ordaz were away on international duty), a recovered Ebobisse scored the opener 13 minutes into a pivotal October match against Toronto. He added another goal in the playoffs to clinch the series win over Austin.
20 Yaw Yeboah
M/D/F
The Ghanaian veteran provided depth at several positions in 2025, coming on as a sub in 13 of his 17 MLS appearances and recording one goal and one assist. He featured in two Leagues Cup matches and two FIFA Club World Cup matches, including the closing minutes of LAFC’s 2-1 extra time win over América in the FIFA Club World Cup Play-In match.
24 Ryan Hollingshead
D
Think of him as a West Coast Jordi Alba. Hollingshead is two years younger than the recently retired Inter Miami left back, and he does more defensive work, but LAFC’s first-choice left back in 2025 also remained dangerous in front of goal, providing three assists and two goals on eight shots on target.
With 31 career regular-season goals, Hollingshead is the active leader among MLS defenders in that category, and can become the all-time leader if he nets five more goals during a contract period that was just extended through 2027.
27 Nathan Ordaz
F
Ordaz, 22, had a breakout year in 2025 with 38 appearances (23 starts) across all competitions, recording eight goals and seven assists. His five regular-season goals ranked third on the team, behind Bouanga (24) and Son (9). As a result, Ordaz was listed for the first time on MLS’s annual 22 Under 22 list of top young players, coming in at No. 8.
29 Artem Smolyakov
D
The Ukrainian fullback signed with LAFC in mid-February on a U-22 contract and by midseason established himself as an attacking threat down the left flank, logging a goal and three assists in 26 regular-season appearances (13 starts). All three of his assists went to Son, including a two-assist performance in St. Louis.
Smolyakov (also spelled Smoliakov, both are correct) made an eye-popping 13 key passes in only 1,125 regular-season minutes in 2025. (Key passes directly create a shot on goal for a teammate.) Signed through 2028, Smolyakov’s greatest impact has not yet been felt.
30 David Martínez
F
Last season was Martínez’s second straight year on MLS’s annual 22-Under-22 list, leaping from No. 19 in 2024 to No. 5 in ‘25. In his 18 starts and 37 appearances across all competitions last year, the Venezuelan winger’s talent was again undeniable. He will turn 20 a few days before the 2026 season kicks off, and the experience he has gained at LAFC over the last two years, including his stellar play in Leagues Cup 2025, where he scored three goals in three matches (including both goals in LAFC’s victory over Tigres), has sharpened his already fearsome skillset.
33 Aaron Long
D
LAFC’s club captain was enjoying another solid year at the center of the Black & Gold’s back line when he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in July. By that point Long had already scored LAFC’s first goal of the year (in Concacaf Champions Cup at Colorado) and the opening goal in the second leg of the CCC Quarterfinal in Miami.
After his injury in the July 12 win over Dallas, Long underwent surgery and leapt right into rehab while remaining close to the team for the rest of the year, physically and otherwise. He is currently on track to return to the pitch sometime in 2026.
45 Kenny Nielsen
D
The 2024 draft pick out of Georgetown gave LAFC a lift and some high-quality minutes at centerback in the summer of 2025, when the club’s top three preseason centerbacks were unavailable and another was serving a card suspension. Nielsen started one of his two MLS appearances, logging 93 minutes and nearly scoring an astonishing bicycle-kick goal on his MLS debut against Portland. He started two Leagues Cup matches and more than held his own against Mazatlan (63 minutes) and Tigres (90 minutes) as LAFC held those two Liga MX sides to just one goal apiece.
56 Jude Terry
M
The 17-year-old Homegrown midfielder did not feature for LAFC’s first team last year, but he starred for the United States’ U-17 squad in qualifying ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Then Terry scored against Morocco in that competition’s Round of 32. (Morocco advanced on penalties following a 1-1 draw.)
66 Mathieu Choiniére
M
Choiniére, who initially joined LAFC as a summertime loan, signed with the Black & Gold on a more permanent basis during the offseason. Now inked through 2028, Choiniére made 10 regular-season appearances in 2025, registering one goal and one assist in 642 minutes.
His first LAFC goal (at New England on Aug. 16) came on Son Heung-Min's first MLS assist, sealing a 2-0 road win. Like Son, Choiniére is expected to play in the FIFA World Cup this summer, having earned 21 caps with the Canadian National Team.
77 Adrian Wibowo
F
Last year was big for Wibowo. The LA native made his MLS debut in a victory at Sporting KC in March, becoming the first Indonesian-American player to ever appear in an MLS match. Then he debuted for Indonesia’s National Team in September in FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifying.
Wibowo has always admired the play of Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah. Now he has another legendary winger to learn from every day in training, Son Heung-Min, who shared the Premier League Golden Boot with Salah in 2021-22.
91 Nkosi Tafari
D
Nkosi Tafari could have signed with several MLS clubs prior to the 2025 season. The then-27-year-old centerback bravely joined an LAFC side that was stacked with returning players at his position. Through the first four months, Tafari didn’t get much run, but his professionalism and his patience remained elite. When Long was lost for the season, Tafari jogged on to take his place, then he made 19 straight starts, including Leagues Cup and MLS Cup Playoffs.
In 14 of those 19 matches, LAFC conceded one or zero goals, including five clean sheets. Tafari is as responsible for that defensive run as any other player, perhaps even goalkeeper Lloris, who didn’t have to face many shots thanks to the three-man wall in front of him, with Tafari at the center.
99 Denis Bouanga
F
Where to begin? How does one summarize a player who became LAFC’s all-time leading goal scorer last year while also becoming the first MLS player to score 20-plus goals in three consecutive seasons, the only player to be named an MLS All-Star in each of the last three years (2023, 2024, 2025), and the only one to be named to the MLS Best XI list the last three years as well?
Best just to cue up his matchwinner against Club América, when Bouanga, after sprinting for 115 minutes against one of the top teams on the continent, summoned the strength to make one last dash and drive home the goal that won LAFC a berth to the FIFA Club World Cup.
Or just enjoy highlights of the on-field synergy he discovered with Son Heung-Min after the Korean star joined him at the tip of LAFC’s attacking spear.
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Rounding out the list are three new acquistions:
18 Jacob Shaffelburg
F
Just before the New Year, LAFC acquired Canadian National Team winger Jacob Shaffelburg from Nashville SC, where he notched 14 goals and 17 assists over the last four years. Shaffelburg is expected to miss some time following surgery in mid-January.
70 Matt Evans
M
Evans, a 19-year-old southern California native and Guatemalan international, just inked a first-team contract following a two-year run with LAFC2 that saw the attacking midfielder record 20 total goal contributions (13 goals, 7 assists).
31 Cabral Carter
GK
Like Evans, Carter is originally from LA and was recently promoted from LAFC to LAFC headed into 2026. As LAFC2’s captain in 2025, Carter led the team in minutes played while recording four clean sheets in MLS NEXT Pro action.
