The US soccer league has gone a long way in the past decade and its strategy of bringing old players works perfectly.
It’s a common thing that a 30+-year-old famous player goes to the US to finish his career or earn a bit more money before his pension. More and more popular players are going to MLS which makes the league more competitive these days.
The league works a bit differently compared to European leagues and the transfer market is open during the season. This isn’t very beneficial for them considering that players don’t have the time to adapt. If MLB odds are not very appealing to you, MLS is like any other football league.
In Europe, even lower leagues are interesting to watch and have large followings like English Championship. MLS wasn’t very popular a decade ago but many players started moving to the US which helped a lot in promoting football (soccer). It’s the major league so you can’t compare it to Italian Serie B.
There are more soccer fans each year and with players like Ibrahimovic, Rooney, Torres, and many more, people will start watching the sport. Basketball and Football are still most popular in the US because they have the strongest leagues in the world but there isn’t a reason why that shouldn’t happen with MLS.
Money is the biggest reason why some players are still playing the game and they will chase bigger pay instead of joining a team they like. This is a common thing nowadays and when a club has a lot of money they can afford great players.
There weren’t big investments in MLS compared to other leagues until a few years ago when teams started paying up millions in order to bring players from Europe. Nowadays, the most expensive player is worth around $15 million which is very low compared to Mbappe who is worth around $150 million.
When a player reaches a certain age, popular teams can’t afford them in the team and they will try to sell them for as much as possible. These players are looking for competitive leagues where they can enjoy the sport as long as they can. MLS is a perfect place for this because the competitive level is high and the playstyle is easier to handle.
Some of them also want to experience the US and live there for a while to see if they might move there. This is a common thing for many athletes that want to start living in the US. They will reach a certain level and start playing for an American team to get the papers. They can start by playing for one season and checking if everything is as they expected and the clubs will always welcome them.
There are also players that are ambitious about MLS and its future. They would try to bring friends to play as well and increase the number of fans. The potential is huge considering how many people in the US don’t know anything about soccer except MLS odds to bet on.
One of the biggest transfers in 2022 is Lorenzo Insigne going to Toronto after leaving Napoli. He is a very skilled player that won titles with Napoli and Italian Serie A. After signing the contract with Toronto FC, he became the most recognizable player in MLS. He has a lot of experience in the biggest leagues like the Europe League and Champions League.
Another big transfer is Douglas Costa that played for teams like Juventus and Bayern Munich. Both teams are dominant in their national leagues and Costa had a lot of success with them. He joined LA Galaxy which is the very popular team for European players.
Xherdan Shaqiri is a Swiss player that played for Lyon and Liverpool afterward. Liverpool is one of the strongest teams in the world and he won a lot of titles with them but he made a deal with Chicago Fire in 2022.