{"id":1777,"date":"2024-03-09T02:32:24","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T02:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=1777"},"modified":"2024-03-09T02:32:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T02:32:24","slug":"lafc-signs-prolific-goal-scorer-denis-bouanga-to-a-2-year-contract-extension-through-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=1777","title":{"rendered":"LAFC signs prolific goal-scorer Denis Bouanga to a 2-year contract extension through 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mg-t-b-20 ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt88 mg-t-b-20 article-content\" data-v-1093115a>Los Angeles FC has signed prolific goal-scorer Denis Bouanga to a two-year contract extension through the 2027 season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mg-t-b-20 ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt88 mg-t-b-20 article-content\" data-v-1093115a>The deal announced Friday, which includes a team option for 2028, allows LAFC to move forward with the centerpiece of its attack secured for at least four seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mg-t-b-20 ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt88 mg-t-b-20 article-content\" data-v-1093115a>The 29-year-old Bouanga won the Golden Boot as Major League Soccer&#8217;s top scorer in 2023, getting 20 goals in the regular season while earning an MLS All-Star berth and being named an MVP finalist. The speedy, accurate striker was also the top goal-scorer in the CONCACAF Champions League, and he led all MLS players with 38 goals across all competitions while LAFC reached its second straight MLS Cup Final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mg-t-b-20 ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt88 mg-t-b-20 article-content\" data-v-1093115a>&#8220;Denis has made an incredible impact on LAFC and our league over the last two seasons and has been critical to our success,&#8221; LAFC general manager John Thorrington said. &#8220;We are excited to see one of the best players in the league make this long-term commitment to LAFC and continue our commitment to winning championships in Los Angeles.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mg-t-b-20 ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt88 mg-t-b-20 article-content\" data-v-1093115a>The French-born Bouanga plays internationally for Gabon. LAFC acquired him from Saint-\u00c9tienne in August 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mg-t-b-20 ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt88 mg-t-b-20 article-content\" data-v-1093115a>He scored just one goal in seven games late in that season, but that goal was a game-winner in stoppage time at Portland to clinch the Supporters&#8217; Shield for his new club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mg-t-b-20 ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt88 mg-t-b-20 article-content\" data-v-1093115a>Bouanga than emerged as one of best offensive players in the MLS last season while leading LAFC to its first league championship. He has also taken over as LAFC&#8217;s offensive talisman from Carlos Vela, the Mexican star and former MLS MVP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mg-t-b-20 ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt88 mg-t-b-20 article-content\" data-v-1093115a>The 35-year-old Vela remains unsigned this season, but LAFC has said it still hopes to bring back the first player in franchise history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mg-t-b-20 ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt88 mg-t-b-20 article-content\" data-v-1093115a><i>Reporting by The Associated Press.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles FC has signed prolific goal-scorer Denis Bouanga to a two-year contract extension through the 2027 season. The deal announced Friday, which includes a team option for 2028, allows LAFC to move forward with the centerpiece of its attack secured for at least four seasons. The 29-year-old Bouanga won the Golden Boot as Major [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}