On Monday, Los Angeles Football Club announced that Mark-Anthony Kaye would be joining the club ahead of their inaugural season. Kaye was transferred in from 2017 USL Champions, Louisville City FC.
Kaye will make the jump to MLS for the first time in his career despite time in Toronto FC's academy. The midfielder adds to a long list of exciting Canadian prospects in MLS.
Career Path
After growing up in Toronto, Ontario, Kaye decided to go to York University, which was also based in Toronto. While at York, he was named OUA rookie of the year following the end of his freshman season.
In his second and final season at York, the individual awards continued to come in for Kaye, but he also delivered the University a team trophy as well. After adding CIS all-Canadian second-team and the OUA first-team to his résumé, Kaye helped York to an OUA championship to wrap up a 2-year career at York University.
After leaving York, Kaye began playing with Toronto FC's academy in 2013 and then played for the senior academy in League1 Ontario in 2014. After scoring once in 9 games, Kaye was sent on loan to the Wilmington Hammerheads who played in USL Pro at the time.
In just his second game for the club, Mark-Anthony bagged his first goal and assist vs LA Galaxy II. Kaye finished his stint with Wilmington with 7 appearances and a pair of assists and a pair of goals to show for it.
In mid-March 2015, Kaye was one of eight players signed by Toronto FC II ahead of their inaugural USL campaign. The midfielder managed to make 22 appearances for the club that season.
In 2016, the now 23-year-old would move to Louisville City FC where he would stay until his move to LAFC. In his first season with the club, he managed to play in 24 of the clubs 28 regular season USL games where he would score once and assist thrice.
Despite playing in just 19 regular season matches in 2017, Kaye managed to up his goal tally from the previous season as he smashed home four goals. He also bagged a goal in the US Open Cup. Mark-Anthony started in all 4 of Louisville's playoff games helping them lift their first ever USL Championship.
Now Kaye moves to an exciting project in LAFC which may allow for him to get more looks from the Canadian national team. Mark-Anthony made his debut for the senior side in June of 2017 and has made 5 appearances in total in under a year. He was named to the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup roster for Canada.
Quotes
LAFC General Manager, John Thorrington, led with “Mark-Anthony is a promising young player with great potential and versatility.” Thorrington furthered that statement with “We look forward to integrating him into the group as we believe he can become a significant contributor to our team immediately.”
LAFC Head Coach Bob Bradley had high praises for Kaye as he said: “Mark-Anthony is an exciting player who has shown creativity and good football both at Louisville City and at the international level.” Bradley continued with “He gives our Club another talented option as we build our roster for the season.”
Quotes via LAFC.com