Major League Soccer has yet to shed its status as a retirement league as teams continue to bring in big-name international stars past their prime. This season saw more than a few notable names join the league, and most are over 30. Other players who have joined the league at more favorable ages are mostly players who fell out of favor with their respective teams overseas. There are two key ingredients the league is missing, and MLS can take cues from other sports leagues to change its perception as a retirement league.
Thomas Muller (36, Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Son Hueng-Min (33, LAFC)
Rodrigo De Paul (31, Inter Miami FC)
Wilfried Zaha (33, Charlotte FC)
Hirving “Chucky” Lozano (30, San Diego FC)
All of these players joined their new teams in 2025. It can be said that these players have, in fact, made an immediate impact with their new clubs. Each of the teams listed above has qualified for the MLS Playoffs this season.
Those clubs also made the playoffs in 2024 without their new former international stars. San Diego FC is the lone exception as the expansion team just started its inaugural MLS season in 2025. It can also be said that these clubs could’ve invested the money spent on these players in developing exciting youth talent instead.
Kevin Denkey (24, Cincinnati FC)
Emmanuel Latte Lath (26, Atlanta United)
Johnathan Bamba (29, Chicago Fire FC)
David Da Costa (24, Portland Timbers FC)
Manu Garcia (27, Sporting Kansas City)
MLS clubs have, admittedly, at the same time, preferred younger options to fill other gaps in their squads. Denkey earned the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the Belgian Pro League before joining Cincinnati. Bamba was once a promising talent with LOSC Lille in France. He played in every league game during Lille’s title-winning season in 2020-2021, and played in the Champions League the following season.
Manchester City paid to acquire Garcia after his 16th birthday. After a couple of years in Man City’s youth setup, he earned limited Premier League playing time with the senior team and signed a four-year extension in 2016. Garcia would eventually return to play in his home country of Spain, then moved to Greece, and now plays for SKC.
There has been a greater focus on acquiring older, proven talent from MLS squads in the past and present. Despite this, clubs are still finding ways to offset the age appearance. I wish there were more youthful signings, but there’s a reason why there aren’t.
Breaking down the MLS player pay structure is complex. The main thing you need to know is that MLS has a soft cap per player at about $743,750 per year. The Designated Player rule allows teams to pay three players above that rate, which the teams are responsible for covering. If a player is not a DP, other rules allow for a higher salary, but it’s most likely that they are earning $743k or less.
That is still quite a bit of money to kick a ball around for those who aren’t professional athletes. When you look at the bigger picture, however, that is peanuts compared to other leagues. MLS only has two players earning more than $10M per year: Lionel Messi and Heung-Min Son (MLSPA). The Premier League, albeit a vastly larger money maker than MLS, has 33 players earning more than £10M per year (Capology).
The more astonishing number is the amount of players making over one million dollars per year in MLS. Only 15% of all players in MLS hit $1M (136 of 875 total). You can count the number of players per team over the million-dollar mark on one hand. This dramatically impacts teams’ ability to sign players in their prime. Top-class talent around the world will not join an under-competitive league for far less money, I can assure you.
MLS may never be as competitive as the top leagues overseas. There is a key to growing interest in the league and developing youth talent. This helps to keep the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) on pace with the best international squads.
Overseas sports leagues are a great example of allowing their top youngsters to gain critical playing time before moving to more competitive leagues. Luka Doncic played with Real Madrid’s senior basketball team at 16. Victor Wembanyama (15), Zaccharie Risacher (16), and other notable French basketball players earned early playing time with their respective clubs. Shohei Otani began his Nippon Professional Baseball career at 18 before turning Major League Baseball on its head.
Lamine Yamal earned early playing time with FC Barcelona at 15. Jamal Musiala made his senior debut with Bayern Munich at 17, and more recently, Lennart Karl, 17, has earned valuable minutes with Bayern this season. Granted, Cavan Sullivan, 15, is the only young American player who can (barely) hold a candle to those names, but the point remains the same. There are many more examples of other countries allowing their budding stars to play and gain experience. It’s time for MLS to let the kids play and earn moves overseas to the best clubs in world soccer.
As perceptions shift from a retirement league to a development league, more young, promising talent will have a stronger desire to hone their craft in MLS. Being able to pay players what they’re worth can change the perception from a development league to a legitimately competitive, top-flight league. Until MLS loosens its salary cap restrictions and gives youth talent more playing time, the league will remain a retirement league. MLS needs to stop living off the excitement Americans have for international soccer and its players. Saudi Arabia is doing it better than us anyway.
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