Jonathan dos Santos

Lore & Background

Jordi dos Santos's story is inseparable from the story of Los Angeles football. Growing up in the city, he followed in his older brother Giovani's footsteps through the Galaxy youth system before a stint at Barcelona B offered him a glimpse of European football's highest academy level. His return to the MLS and eventual move to LAFC in 2018 felt, to many supporters, like a homecoming—proof that the city's own players could anchor a new club's identity.

At the Banc of California Stadium, Jordi was not the flashiest name in the lineup, but he was the one fans leaned on. His passing range, his willingness to track back, his composure under pressure in the final third—these were the quiet virtues that made LAFC's midfield function. In a squad that featured marquee signings, he represented the local thread, the kid who had watched matches with his family and now played them.

His crowning moment came in the 2022 MLS Cup final against the Columbus Crew, where LAFC's disciplined, hard-working performance delivered the trophy to a city that had waited decades for a major football title. Jordi's name on that roster, and his contributions throughout the run, gave the local narrative its fullest expression: the city's own son, on the pitch, lifting the Cup in front of his people.

In Their Own Story

The stadium lights are just coming up over the South Bay. You can smell the cut grass mixing with the diesel hum of the parking lot filling up. In the tunnel, Jordi is already in his warm-up jog, the #10 loose on his back, headphones around his neck. A young kid at the barrier is holding a hand-painted sign—'JORDI #10 LOCAL'—and he waves. Jordi waves back, that small half-smile that never quite reaches his eyes in public but means everything in private.

Out on the pitch, the first touch is soft. He receives on the left, turns, and the ball drops into the channel where the winger is already sprinting. No flash. No trick. Just the pass, the timing, the geometry of a man who has done this ten thousand times in this city. The crowd noise swells in that low, rolling way it does at the Banc of California when the play is *right*. And somewhere in the stands, a father is pointing at the screen and saying, 'That's the kid from the Valley. That's ours.'

Reader's Guide

Jordi dos Santos joined LAFC for the 2018 season as a central midfielder, arriving after years that included time at LA Galaxy and a period at Barcelona B. He was, from day one, the local kid—the one whose name on the team sheet made the South Bay crowd feel the club was *theirs*.

His role was never the headline. He wasn't the goal machine or the showboat. He was the metronome: receiving, turning, distributing, tracking back. In a midfield that cycled through several high-profile names, Jordi's consistency was the constant. Fans remember him in the second half of a tight match, when legs are heavy and the game is ugly, and he's still making the right pass, still covering the space, still keeping the shape intact.

The 2022 season was the one. The MLS Cup run against Columbus in the final—LAFC's disciplined, collective performance—gave the local narrative its payoff. Jordi's name on the roster, his contributions through the knockout rounds, the image of him in the confetti: that's the memory that sticks. He left after that season, and the #10 went to someone else, but the story of the Valley kid who wore it and lifted the Cup in his own city doesn't go away. It's the one fans retell at the bar, the one that makes you believe the club was built for a reason.

Did You Know?

• Jordi is a Los Angeles native who grew up in the city's football culture, making him one of the few players in LAFC's history to be a true local product.
• He is the younger brother of Giovani dos Santos, the Mexico international who also played for LA Galaxy and had a stint at FC Barcelona.
• He was part of the LAFC squad that won the 2022 MLS Cup, the club's first major league title, defeating the Columbus Crew in the final.
• His time at Barcelona B's academy gave him exposure to one of the most technically demanding youth environments in world football before his return to MLS.