LAFC acquires Baird from Salt Lake, Kim from Busan IPark

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles FC acquired forward Corey Baird from Real Salt Lake and defender Kim Moon-hwan from South Korean club Busan IPark on Monday.

LAFC sent $500,000 in general allocation money, a 2021 international roster spot and future considerations to Salt Lake for Baird, who won the 2018 MLS Rookie of the Year award with eight goals for Salt Lake. He had two goals and four assists in 21 appearances last season.

Baird, who turns 25 this month, also made his debut with the U.S. national team in January 2019.

Baird is another strong addition to an LAFC attack that led the league with 47 goals and 358 shots last season despite getting just seven appearances from 2019 MLS scoring champion Carlos Vela, who was injured for most of the year.

Baird is from Escondido, California, near San Diego, and he won three consecutive national championships at Stanford before joining Salt Lake in January 2018.

Kim was acquired using targeted allocation money from Busan IPark, where he had nine goals and seven assists in 120 games across all competitions over the past four seasons. He has also made 11 appearances for South Korea’s national team.

The 25-year-old Kim is the latest addition to LAFC’s defense, which struggled mightily last season while the club fell from its spot among MLS’ elite teams. LAFC yielded 39 goals in 22 games last season, the most among the Western Conference’s top seven teams.

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