Bringing Carlos Vela wasn’t an easy process for LAFC, but it was made easier due to the cash they were able to offer the Mexican international.
Vela attracted interest from Liga MX side Chivas, but the Mexican club’s CEO Jose Luis Higuera admitted the club doesn’t have the economic power MLS does.
“We made contact with Vela and we were very close, but if they beat you to it, they beat you to it,” Higuera said on ESPN’s Futbol Picante podcast. “We can’t compare ourselves or be irresponsible with the people, we don’t have the economic power of MLS.
“The day that MLS decides to go for Europeans and to have a Champions [League], they have the power and money to do it and players dance for money.”
In the same interview, Higuera mentioned that Chivas was close to a deal with Vela before LAFC swooped in and signed him to a contract that starts in 2018.