Mark Delgado was born and raised in Southern California and played six MLS seasons here. But last Friday, he joked, was the first time he worried about getting lost on his way to practice.
“I had to pull out the GPS and make sure I was going the right way,” Delgado said after his first training session with LAFC in a back corner of the Cal State L.A. campus.
The reigning MLS champion Galaxy, struggling to squeeze under the league salary cap, sent Delgado up the freeway last week when it traded him to LAFC for $400,000 in general allocation money. For Delgado, the deal was both a surprise and an opportunity.
“It was interesting how everything went down. But at the end of the day, there’s rules in this league,” he said, referencing the salary cap. “So no hard feelings. I said my goodbyes to close that chapter on a good note and it’s on to the next chapter, right?”
That next chapter could be one of the best in what has already been a storybook career.
Delgado, who also spent seven seasons in Toronto, has won two MLS Cups, a Supporters’ Shield and three Canadian Championships. Just 29, he’s played 13 years in MLS and figures to be entering the prime of his career after setting a career high for appearances last season with 32 and matching his career high for starts with 29. With LAFC, Delgado’s durability and versatility — he can play as both a defensive midfielder and a central midfielder — will help make up for the loss of veterans Ilie Sánchez, Eduard Atuesta, Lewis O’Brien and Mateusz Bogusz, who was second on the team in both goals and assists in 2024. Plus his passing ability could change the way LAFC plays.
In coach Greg Vanney’s possession-based game with the Galaxy, Delgado ranked eighth in the league in passing last season, completing more than 91% of the nearly 2,000 passes he attempted. No LAFC midfielder attempted more than 1,311 passes and only one completed as many as 90% of his tries.
Delgado, general manager John Thorrington said “has always been one of the most underrated players in our league. He is the type of guy that every successful team needs.”
Especially a team that finds itself in another transformative offseason. After reaching the MLS Cup final in each of the two previous seasons, LAFC won the regular-season Western Conference title in 2024 but was eliminated by Seattle in extra time in the second round of the playoffs.
Eleven players from that team are gone and though LAFC has already opened training camp, Thorrington is still filling out his roster.
Galaxy midfielder Mark Delgado tries to shoot past a Seattle Sounders defender during a playoff game in November.
(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)
“Once this group becomes more complete, you will see us two deep in every position,” he said. “With the announcements to come, we’re adding some real key additions that know the league, that know what it takes to win in this league.
“This will be up there with maybe the deepest group we’ve had to start a season.”
For Delgado, the change may take a bit of getting used to. For starters, he’ll be playing under a coach not named Vanney for just the second time in 11 seasons. And he’ll be switching sides in El Tráfico, the bitter crosstown derby between LAFC and the Galaxy that has quickly grown into the league’s most intense rivalry. Only two other men — Raheem Edwards and John McCarthy — have played for both sides in that game.
“It’s definitely a game you always want to be a part of. But for me there was never any bad blood,” he said. “So I’m on the other side now. I’m excited for it but I will say the switch was a little nerve-wracking.
“I just want to forward and get as comfortable as I can as soon as possible.”
A contract extension would help. And though Delgado, who was entering the option year of deal with Galaxy, declined to talk about that, he is believed to be getting a multiyear deal with LAFC that will pay him more than the $876,250 he was guaranteed last season.
Regardless of what Delgado accomplishes on the field for LAFC, the trade is already an historic one because after beginning his career with Chivas USA at age 16, then spending the last three seasons with the Galaxy — both teams that trained and played at what is now Dignity Health Sports Park — suiting up with LAFC will make him the only man to play for all three of Southern California’s MLS teams.
For someone who kicked a soccer ball for the first time as a 4-year-old in Glendora and has lived most of his life in Southern California, completing that triple crown is meaningful.
“That’s honestly a really cool stat,” Delgado said. “It makes me really proud.”
And it may not be the only history he makes with his new club. After winning league championships in Toronto — where he played on the only MLS team to win a treble — and the Galaxy, Delgado could become just the fifth player to win MLS Cups with three different teams if he earns a ring with LAFC.
“You just lit a little fire in my stomach,” Delgado said. “Now I’m looking forward to it. Let’s do it.”
⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.