LAFC has signed forward Kei Kamara through the 2024 season with an option for 2025.
A 17-year MLS veteran, Kamara has enjoyed a prolific career that has seen him play for a record 11 different MLS teams, appear in 418 regular-season matches (328 starts, 30,191 minutes) and record 144 goals, the third-most in league history. He has scored the most goals among all active MLS players and is one of just 11 players in MLS history to have scored 100 goals.
“Kei is one of the all-time greatest goal scorers in MLS history and a great complement to our attack,” LAFC Co-President & General Manager John Thorrington said. “Kei has a long history here in Southern California, so we know it will bring a sense of pride for him to represent LAFC.”
Kamara, 39, is a two-time MLS All-Star (2015, 2023) and was named to the 2015 MLS Best XI following a career-high 22 goals for the Columbus Crew. He was also the 2015 MLS Works Humanitarian of the Year and won the 2012 U.S. Open Cup with Sporting Kansas City.
The Sierra Leone native returns to Southern California, where he starred at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, CA, and at Cal State Dominguez Hills, before beginning his MLS career as the ninth overall pick of the Columbus Crew in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft.
Kamara joins LAFC after spending the 2023 season with the Chicago Fire, where he scored five goals and registered two assists in 27 regular-season appearances.
After spending his first two seasons (2006, 2007) with Columbus, Kamara was traded to the San Jose Earthquakes to start the 2008 season before being moved to the Houston Dynamo later in the year, where he scored 12 goals in 47 total appearances in 2008 and 2009. Kamara then played five seasons with Sporting Kansas City from 2009-2013, before returning to the Columbus Crew in 2015.
Following a record-setting season in Columbus, where he tied for the league-lead in goals (22), Kamara went on to play for the New England Revolution (2016-17), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2018), Colorado Rapids (2019-2020), Minnesota United FC (2020) and Montréal (2022).
In addition to his MLS experience, Kamara’s career has taken him to Europe, where he played on loan with English Premier League club Norwich City in 2013, making 11 appearances. He then signed with Middlesbrough FC in the English Championship for the rest of 2014, where he scored four goals in 25 matches. He returned to Europe in 2021 with Finland’s HIFK, scoring five goals in 14 appearances.
Internationally, Kamara has made 39 appearances for Sierra Leone, scoring seven goals and registering one assist across all competitions, including 12 appearances in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, and three in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations.
While at Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Kamara scored 31 goals in 47 games and was named the 2004 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Player of the Year. He led the Toros to the 2004 and 2005 CCAA titles and the 2005 NCAA Far West Region title. In 2020, Kamara was inducted to the CCAA Hall of Fame.
TRANSACTION: LAFC sign forward Kei Kamara through the 2024 season with an option for 2025.
