JOHN THORRINGTON, LAFC CO-PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER, ON WHY LAFC WANTED KELLYN ACOSTA:
“Kellyn is a player we’ve known a long time – going back to when he was in Dallas. He is a player we have monitored for a long time. Once we knew he would be available, we moved very quickly to secure the deal with Colorado. As we headed into this coming season, we recognized the importance of our midfield, which has always been a strength of ours. We thought of Kellyn as having all the attributes necessary for how we want to play in the middle of the field. He’s got versatility and great physical capacity. You saw it with his development with a very good Colorado team, and of course his play with the National Team really caught our eye. He has played in some of the biggest games the National Team has had – and played more games than any other player for the U.S. this year. (Acosta’s 21 games played in the 2021 calendar year is the most of any U.S. player in one year since 1994.) We have always valued players who have international experience, versatility, physical capacity and he ticked all those boxes. We are really excited to have a player of his quality and caliber at a great age.”
THORRINGTON, ON WHAT KELLYN ACOSTA BRINGS TO LAFC:
"In Kellyn we are adding another player, along with some of the others we have already added this off-season, with an extensive level of MLS experience and that is something we highlighted as a priority for us this offseason. Again, just the ability to bring in another player with a lot of international, and still growing international experience. The hope for us and for Kellyn is that he is playing in a World Cup at the end of this year. We identified as a priority having a roster with more MLS experience, and we are building that.
In addition to his experience - we speak to former teammates and coaches. We are looking at not just what they do on the field, but what are they are like as a person, as a guy and a leader off the field. We’ve heard really positive things from all those resources who we had. In talking to Steve [Cherundolo] and our scouts and analysts – we felt this was a real rare opportunity for us to get a player with all those qualities.”
