Amin Boudri was squarely in Los Angeles Football Club head coach Marc Dos Santos’ plans after the World Cup break.
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But LAFC was not part of Boudri’s agenda.
On Wednesday, six months into a three-year deal, the 21-year-old midfielder was transferred home to Sweden in the most expensive inbound move in the history of the Allsvenskan league.
In the wake of that move, Boudri said early on that he couldn’t wait to leave Los Angeles.
“I tried, I knew it was a long shot,” Boudri told the Swedish newspaper Expressen. “I didn’t want to be there. It didn’t work out for me. It was impossible.”
Boudri’s arrival in late January was bumpy. He needed to return to Sweden for 10 days to sort out his visa. Injuries also slowed his progress, costing him consistent opportunities and weeks of training.
“At the same time, Amin felt always very high on being in Europe,” Dos Santos said. “So the disappointing part for me is Amin wasn’t sure, I felt, about his decision joining LAFC and maybe felt always in between the U.S. and Europe. Amin, when he had the opportunity and we had the opportunity to have him back in Europe, it’s what he wanted also.
“If Amin would have stayed as a player, I would have been very excited to work with, but unfortunately it needs to work on both sides. Both that the player really wants to be here and we really want the player here, but I think the player had a little bit more of European ambitions and I wish him all the best there.”
Rather than sticking it out, Boudri moved to Stockholm club Hammarby IF, which drew Anderlecht at home in a Europa League qualifier on Thursday as the talented ball handler watched because he was not cleared by the medical staff.
Boudri is the fifth player 22 or younger to depart LAFC since the end of May.
Italian defender Lorenzo Dellavalle, 22, mutually agreed to terminate his LAFC contract. Adrian Wibowo and Matt Evans, both 20, were loaned to Austrian club FC Wacker Innsbruck. Nathan Ordaz, 22, was traded to D.C. United for $2.375 million in cash. And Boudri’s exit added a reported $3.7 million to the LAFC coffers.
“The youth is going to be replaced by the youth,” Dos Santos said. “We want to make sure that we just bring players that are more in the profile that we want, but it’s not that Amin left or Nathan left to go sign a guy who is 36 years old.”
The lone inbound transfer for LAFC thus far during the secondary transfer window – 28-year-old Ukrainian fullback Yevhen Cheberko arrived from Columbus in a trade for a 2026 international roster slot – has delivered an upgrade on the left side of the Black & Gold four-man backline.
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Cheberko came to MLS in the summer of 2023 from the top flight of Croatian soccer.
Acknowledging the difficulty of offering blanket advice to early-career Europeans considering the MLS, Cheberko declared that the league is better than people think and presents unique challenges.
“Younger players are coming here because they see you can play in MLS for a couple of years and prove enough that you go to Europe,” he said. “It’s not like before that the players come here just to retire or take care of their life. The league has changed.”
Joining MLS with an open mind about the competitive parity, extended travel and relaxed environment relative to European clubs is important, he said.
“Here just about any game everything can happen,” Cheberko said. “So get ready for that.”
On Saturday, for instance, LAFC (9-5-3, 30 points) hosts Western cellar dweller Sporting Kansas City (4-10-2, 14 points).
Seeking a third win in nine days, the players who remain available for LAFC would be wrong to think otherwise, the coach said.
“It doesn’t matter the standings,” Dos Santos said. “It doesn’t matter how you started. How you finished. What matters is the moment you’re in right now.”
After taking a handful of points through 11 league games, SKC has three victories over the past five matches for Swiss head coach Raphaël Wicky, who was appointed in January.
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SPORTING KANSAS CITY AT LAFC
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: BMO Stadium
TV/Radio: Apple TV/710 AM, 980 AM, 1230 AM, SiriusXM FC 157