Article by Matt Lichtenstadter
By the time Tyler Adams had kicked a winning goal for Leipzig in a Champions League quarterfinal, and by the time Alphonso Davies had embarrassed Nelson Sémedo and Barcelona a day later, perhaps MLS’ long overdue quest for relevance in global soccer finally bore fruit. To see two young, incredibly talented alumni play such critical roles for two teams at the pinnacle of competition in Europe is what Don Garber and his league have dreamed could be possible one day but hadn’t seen anything like until now. With the unique contours of this transfer window, those performances ask an important question with an open-ended answer: does a rising tide raise all boats?
A now infamous anecdote from TUDN’s Luis Omar Tapia suggests that Barcelona could have signed Alphonso Davies long before Bayern jumped in but didn’t simply because Davies is from Canada. Perhaps that’s more elucidating about recent Barcelona recruiting failures than it is MLS itself, but with two Champions League semifinalists proudly featuring MLS alums as key cogs, are clubs going to finally realize that there’s talent and value in signing players from the league? With clubs looking for bargains in the pandemic depressed transfer market, there may not be a better place to turn to than MLS, especially now that there’s more of a track record of success at the highest levels.
MLS clubs have been reluctant to sell during the summer window for two co-equal reasons: prices and playoffs. Since the league has a hand in all transfers, it’s been difficult for some clubs to get what they perceive as a fair price for their prized players, particularly since they didn’t get the biggest cut of the fees until recently. With the global perception of MLS in the transfer market not exactly stellar, it caused a double whammy that made MLS teams reluctant to pull the trigger on such moves. Add that to teams being averse to selling such important pieces in the middle of a playoff/MLS Cup push, and the outgoing market for MLS players during the summer basically becomes non-existent. Even during the winter, there are complications in this regard, and Aaron Long’s failed transfer to West Ham is a perfect case in point.
Have Alphonso Davies and Tyler Adams singlehandedly changed the perception of MLS players on the European market? Perhaps that’s an overstatement based on two recent games, but Adams when healthy has been integral to RB Leipzig’s success and Alphonso Davies might be the best left back in the sport with both aged 21 or younger. Davies moved for $22 million including add-ons and Adams moved for a fee around $3 million. Those are club defining transfers with fees that are well below market value. Comparable players from Europe or other well scouted markets would command substantially more.
In a time where bargain shopping might be the only shopping many clubs can do, why wouldn’t they turn to MLS, where there are bargains aplenty? If two Champions League semifinalists can shop successfully in MLS, why can’t anyone else? The phrase “market inefficiency” might be overused but the fact that so few teams mine what could be a rich vein of talent that comes cheaper than anyone else is certainly a market inefficiency. At a time where money is tight, clubs need to be shrewder than ever before, and the return on investment for a great MLS signing is going to be higher than for almost any other league where the premium is already baked in.
Can these European clubs entice MLS teams to sell when they otherwise wouldn’t want to? Both Adams and Davies moved in the winter window, making the job of “replacing” them for the Whitecaps and Red Bulls much easier. It may take slightly enhanced offers for these players to get MLS and the clubs to budge, but with the prices lower than market value already, it might not take all that much to get these clubs into situations where selling is the best option. These players already have their eyes on Europe anyway, so turning their heads might be the easy part.
MLS wants to badly become a selling league and a league known for developing talent. After Adams and Davies, they now have definitive proof of concept. Soccer is a copycat sport, so with proof of concept, other clubs will surely be looking at MLS for the next Tyler Adams or Alphonso Davies. Those players are in the league in abundance. Will MLS now sell and firmly establish the reputation they’ve yearned for, or hold on for better prices or a better time to sell?
The answer to that last question will determine if MLS can capture lightning in a bottle and take advantage of the best advertisement the league has had for its talent, perhaps ever.
