TUKWILA — It’s not very often that the Supporters’ Shield leaders can add significant talent at midseason. It’s even more rare when those players can be legitimately called “world-class.” It’s basically unheard of when a team can add two such players without even having to use up a Designated Player spot.
Yet, that’s exactly what LAFC have done over the past week, adding Garth Bale and Giorgio Chiellini on Targeted Allocation Money contracts. Just for good measure they also signed Carlos Vela to an extension and beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0 on Sunday to push their lead in the Supporters’ Shield race to four points.