LAFC made a surprising move on the first day of the summer transfer window, announcing Wednesday afternoon it traded promising young Ghanaian international winger Kwadwo “Mahala” Opoku to CF Montreal for $1.75 million in general allocation money (GAM). According to the club, it's for $1,650,000 in 2023 GAM and $100,000 in 2024 GAM.
“Mahala has been an incredible story and an important player for us over the last few years,” LAFC Co-President & General Manager John Thorrington said in the release. “These decisions are never easy but are at times necessary. It has been great to watch him grow and develop as a player on the field and a person off the pitch. We are grateful for all of his contributions to LAFC and wish him the best of luck in his career.”
Opoku in Los Angeles
After signing Opoku from the Attram de Visser Soccer Academy in Accra, Ghana, in October 2020, Mahala (as he is affectionately known) was immediately thrown into the first team. Despite having limited opportunities in his first couple of seasons, Opoku’s first goal was a memorable one — a 71st-minute CCL quarter-final volley to beat Cruz Azul en route to the club’s first Concacaf Champions League final. In 2022, Opoku’s breakout season would help LAFC qualify for the CCL again as he helped propel the team to the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup double.
The Ghanaian’s seven goals and three assists last season seemed to mark a turning point in the young attacker’s career, and he began to receive interest from Europe. CF Montreal was also interested but couldn’t convince LAFC at the time to part with Opoku.
Following Opoku’s downturn in form this season, with only two goals and two assists in 19 league games (with 13 starts), the Angelinos decided Montreal’s latest offer was too good to pass up.
The deal
The benefit of transferring Opoku within MLS is the increased GAM available to LAFC. For international transfers, the selling club may assign up to $1,157,625 of the transfer/loan revenue as GAM with the remaining balance of the club’s share distributed by MLS to the club as cash. With clubs only receiving an allotment of $1.9m GAM in 2023, the extra GAM could prove useful in navigating MLS roster rules.
The club also opens up an international roster slot occupied by Opoku, which widens the options for a replacement. However, given that the 21-year-old falls under the supplemental roster slots 21-24 on the roster, making just over $250,000 per year, his sale doesn’t save much on the wage bill. Any sufficient replacement is likely to require a much higher salary.
Regardless, moving on from Opoku is a statement of intent from Thorrington, and what happened to Opoku could happen to one or two more players as the window unfolds in Los Angeles. Even more interesting, perhaps, will be if, when, and how LAFC finds a replacement for Opoku. The team needs a reliable source of goals besides Dénis Bouanga. Moving Opoku (and loading up on GAM) may be the perfect way to open a spot for the new striker fans have been craving.