The North American MLS is still waiting for the big pull of Lionel Messi’s transfer. However, former top stars from Europe are under contract with his team Inter Miami in particular. Marco Reus, a long-serving Champions League star, is now moving to LA Galaxy. In the MLS, the attacking player will at least meet up with some old acquaintances from Europe. You can challenge players from the American continent at the Vave Casino Canada.
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With stars such as Frank Lampard (2014 – 2017, New York City), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2018 – 2020, LA Galaxy) and the former world footballer Kaká (2014 – 2017, Orlando City SC), the American Major League Soccer (MLS) wanted to catch up with the top leagues in Europe a few years ago and make football more popular in the USA. The list of stars who chose to move to the United States in the last few metres of their football careers is long. The glamour that Thierry Henry (2010 – 2015, New York RB), David Villa (2014 – 2019, New York City FC) and co. once exuded has faded somewhat in recent years.
Last year, however, this changed again abruptly: world champion Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami and helped the league gain new popularity. Football fans all over the world bought their idol’s pink jerseys and became aware of the MLS. In the wake of the Messi transfer, Marco Reus is now also moving to North America. After leaving Borussia Dortmund, the long-serving international has signed for LA Galaxy. In the MLS, he will meet some former European greats.
Reus meets ex-Barca stars
Messi’s Inter Miami is particularly peppered with old stars: in Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez, three of Messi’s old Barcelona companions have found their way to Florida. Otherwise, only a few former top stars still play in the USA. With a market value of 30 million euros, Messi leads the list of the most expensive MLS players by a wide margin. He is followed by Reus’ new team-mate Riqui Puig (EUR 15 million), another former Barcelona professional. No other well-known ex-professional from Europe makes it into the top ten.
Reus will also have to bridge an old rivalry in his new team: Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida played for BVB’s arch-rivals Schalke 04 before moving to Los Angeles.
German fans may also recognise the name Hany Mukhtar (€12 million). The 28-year-old comes from the youth ranks of Hertha BSC and has been under contract with Nashville SC since January 2020. In his four years in America so far, the attacking player has impressed, scoring 23 goals in the 2021/22 season and winning the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award. In the current season, he has 13 goals and seven assists. Cologne fans may also remember centre-back Rafael Czichos, who moved from FC to Chicago Fire in 2022. Fabian Herbers, another German, is also under contract there, while former Bayern attacker Xherdan Shaqiri is captain of the team from the Windy City.
German expertise is also relied upon at St. Louis City FC, where Lutz Pfannenstiel is in charge as sports director. This summer, the former goalkeeper brought playmaker Marcel Hartel from Bundesliga promoted FC St. Pauli, Hannover top scorer Cedric Teuchert and Nuremberg defender Jannes Horn to Missouri.
Another selection of former European stars who now play in the MLS:
- Hugo Lloris (formerly of Tottenham Hotspur): With LA City FC since 2024
- Olivier Giroud (formerly Arsenal FC, AC Milan): With LA City FC since 2024
- Hannes Wolf (formerly Borussia Mönchengladbach): With New York City since 2024
- Luis Muriel (formerly Atalanta Bergamo): With Orlando City FC since 2024
- Asier Illaramendi (formerly Real Sociedad): With FC Dallas since 2023
- Roman Bürki (formerly Borussia Dortmund): With St. Louis City FC since 2022
- Emil Forsberg (formerly RB Leipzig): With the New York Red Bulls since 2024
- Victor Wanyama (formerly Tottenham Hotspur): With C.F Montréal since 2020
- Carlos Gruezo (formerly FC Augsburg): With the San Jose Earthquakes since 2023
- Martin Cáceres (formerly Juventus Turin): With LA Galaxy since 2022
- Alessandro Schöpf (formerly Schalke 04): With the Vancouver Whitecaps since 2022
- Teemu Pukki (formerly Schalke 04, Norwich City): With Minnesota United since 2023
- Lorenzo Insigne (formerly SSC Napoli): With Toronto FC since 2022
- Federico Bernardeschi (formerly Juventus Turin): With Toronto FC since 2022
- Erik Thommy (formerly VfB Stuttgart): With Sporting Kansas City since 2022
- Christian Benteke (formerly Liverpool FC): With D.C United since 2022
- Mateusz Klich (formerly Leeds United): With D.C. United since 2023
- Tim Ream (formerly FC Fulham): With Charlotte FC since 2024
- Hector Herrera (formerly Atlético Madrid): Since 2022 Houston Dynamo FC