Third LAFC winger to win the MLS Golden Boot - Meet goal machine Denis Bouanga

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It has been a remarkable run of late for Los Angeles FC star Denis Bouanga. The 28-year-old Gabonese winger has scored six goals in his last three Major League Soccer regular season games, enough to secure the Golden Boot ahead of Luciano Acosta (Cincinnati) and Georgios Giakoumakis (Atlanta United). Bouanga becomes the third LAFC player to win a Golden Boot after Carlos Vela won it in 2019 (34 goals), and Diego Rossi secured the title in 2020, scoring 16 goals combined in the regular season and the MLS is Back tournament. 

Stats

D. Bouanga Left Winger

Los Angeles FC

Season 22/23–
MLS

Games

31

Goals

20

Assists

7

Remarkably, neither Vela nor Rossi were out-and-out strikers but are more at home on the wing. The same can be said for left-winger Bouanga. “LAFC is a team that really plays on the front foot pushing forward,” Bouanga said through an interpreter when asked why the club has produced so many wingers that have won the Golden Boot. “It is a style of play that encourages the attacking output. The wingers always find themselves on the ball. They always push into the opponent’s box. It can happen to me, and it can happen to other wingers to score that many goals. We do a good job of generating those chances and scoring regularly. I hope next year it can happen to me or someone else.” 

But what is LAFC’s secret when it comes to wingers? For head coach Steve Cherundolo, it comes down to the club’s philosophy. “It speaks about the football we are trying to play and the type of chances we are trying to create and then obviously also about our scouting and management to bring in players who can finish plays,” Cherundolo said when asked about Buoanga’s success this season.  “He knows how to score and how to make a difference in a game. Denis can decide games.” 

Market Value

D. Bouanga Left Winger

€10.00m

Golden Boot winner Bouanga – “Hoping for more” in the MLS Cup Playoffs

Without a doubt, Bouanga has been incredibly efficient and, according to Wyscout, has outperformed his xG by +4.57. Bouanga also led the league with 6.17 touches inside the box and 266 one-v-one dribbles and was second with 133 shots overall. Bouanga, in the meantime, gave some insight into his recent form. “I really like playing without bigger breaks,” Bouanga said when asked about his six goals in the last three games. “It is really hard for me when we have a ten-day break, and the team likes to play every four days; that is the best for me as well and makes me better and better every time I play.” 

The MLS Cup Playoffs, then, should be an ideal scenario for Bouanga. LAFC capped off the MLS regular season with a 1-1 draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday. The result meant that the two teams would see one another again in the first round of the playoffs, which will be a best-of-three series. The two teams know each other well, having faced one another twice in the regular season (2-3, 1-1) but also in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League, where LAFC dominated (3-0, 3-0).

In other words, LAFC are happy that Bouanga has found this vein of form just ahead of what will be at least two challenging games against the Whitecaps. But Bouanga's recent form was exactly what the club hoped for when they signed the winger in a transfer worth €4.5m from Saint-Étienne in August 2022. With a guaranteed compensation of $2.48m, according to the MLSPA Bouanga is the second highest paid player at LAFC after Vela ($4.8m). That's money well spend according to Cherundolo. “That is the player we scouted in Europe and hoped to bring over here and have an impact on the MLS, and he’s been able to do that,” Cherundolo said when asked about Bouanga’s season. “So, we are hoping for more in the most important part of the season.”

Can Bouanga carry LAFC to back-to-back MLS Cup titles? 

Bouanga certainly does know how to make an impact during the playoffs. Last season, he scored twice in three games, with both goals coming in the quarterfinal El Trafico clash against rivals LA Galaxy. Last year, LAFC heavily relied on Cristian Arango and Vela to get the job done when it mattered. Arango was sold this offseason, and Vela, while still influential, is showing signs of decline. Other star players like José Cifuentes (transferred to Rangers) are also gone, and all that squarely puts the focus on the Gabonese winger to get the job done this offseason.

But what about beyond this season? The 20 goals scored this season certainly set a benchmark for LAFC and Bouanga, and at just 28, there is a sense that the Gabonese forward could perhaps reach another level in his play. With that in mind, what is Bouanga’s ceiling in the future? “I think if he can play like this for another year, that would be pretty incredible,” Cherundolo said. “I am not sure there is a higher ceiling than that.”