LAFC Academy product Christopher Jaime made history becoming the first player to sign an MLS NEXT PRO contract, continuing on path of LAFC’s professional player development pipeline.
“This is a significant moment for our Club as a next step in our professional pathway for our young, talented academy players like Chris,” said LAFC Co-President and General Manager John Thorrington. “It is testament to the hard work of everyone involved – our technical staff, scouts, and coaches but particularly speaks to the sacrifices made by Chris and his family. We are pleased to see Christopher continue to develop in our system as one of the players on our inaugural MLS Next Pro roster.”
LAFC announced its plan to launch an MLS Next Pro Team in August of this year and will begin competing in 2023, bringing the total number to 28 teams that will compete in the second season of MLS Next Pro.
Jaime will continue to play in 2022 under a USL contract with the Las Vegas Lights, LAFC’s USL affiliate where he has appeared in 20 games (6 starts) totaling 699 minutes played so far this season.
“Christopher is the first to sign an MLS Next Pro contract and as such inaugurates our player development path that we have been striving to create and we believe this is the right way forward,” said Marco Garces LAFC Director of Football Operations. “Jaime is an excellent player – he is very dynamic and energetic. This is a good signing for us, and we expect to see a lot of great things from Christopher in the future.”
Jaime, joined the LAFC Academy in 2021 and debuted with the U19s in the 2021 MLS Next Cup Playoffs and has been playing under a USL Academy Contract with the Lights earning 634 minutes in 2021.
Jaime joined LAFC Academy in 2021 from Nomads SD of San Diego. He is a High School Graduate from the San Diego Unified School District’s iHigh Virtual Academy and was recruited by the University of Portland.
