MLS: The New Home for LigaMX stars

The trend of Mexican and Liga MX stars going to MLS is not a new one. Hopping over to “el otro lado” usually meant that the player’s career was nearing its end. Mexican legends such as Luis Hernandez, Jorge Campos and Rafa Marquez all transferred to MLS looking to cash in on their name recognition for some big paydays in the latter stages of their careers. 

The mindset of previous generations was that the MLS, now in its 25th year, was a retirement league. A league with enough quality of play to keep things interesting, but easy enough to sit back and cash some paychecks. But does that mentality still hold with the current crop of players? There is an emerging trend of Mexican and LigaMX players that are now choosing to play in the United States during the prime of their careers. A player like Rodolfo Pizarro, a 25 year old Mexican national team player, can seemingly entertain the thought of letting go of his European dreams – at least momentarily – and head up north with the allure of money and a competitive level of play.

You also see cases of Mexican national team players, such as the Dos Santos brothers, choosing to head over to the MLS before their 30’s. Carlos Vela, at 28, chose to be the face of LAFC rather than continue in Spain. The most recent Golden boot winner, Alan Pulido, left “El Rebaño Sagrado” and went to the American midwest. Most recently, and maybe the clearest example of this trend, is Javier Hernandez. Arguably the face of Mexican soccer over the past decade, after falling out of the rotation in Sevilla, chose to go play in the City of Angels instead of Mexico or another european league.

The MLS is inferior in terms of quality and in some cases pay, but LigaMX players are still choosing to leave. This trend is not just the case for Mexican players but “extranjeros” that used LigaMX as a springboard towards the MLS.

D.C. United, looking to fill the void left by Wayne Rooney, acquired Peruvian winger Edison Flores from Monarcas Morelia on a $5 million transfer fee. Flores was a player that stood out in the Copa America 2019 for Peru and helped Morelia almost get past Club America during the 2019 Apertura liguilla.

Lucas Zelarayan left Tigres for Columbus Crew SC looking for more playing time and a bigger role on the field. The 27-year-old scored 23 goals and 14 assists across all competitions in his four years in the northern city of Monterrey. Columbus Crew SC set a club record by spending around $7 million on the transfer fee to obtain the Argentine attacking midfielder from Tigres.

Tom Marshall noted in one of his latest articles that there have been 16 players to move from Liga MX to MLS over the last three Liga MX transfer windows, against eight players making the move to LigaMX over the same time frame.

Current LA Galaxy midfielder Joe Corona, who played in Liga MX for Club Tijuana, Club América and Dorados de Sinaloa, stated to Marshall that he gets calls from former teammates and friends from the league “all the time” asking him to “take them to MLS.”

Alan Pulido stated this during a recent press conference: “I didn’t speak to any [Mexican] players [before making the decision],” Pulido said. “It’s more through what I’ve heard, what players here like Jonathan [dos Santos] and [Carlos] Vela have said, [Uriel] Antuna. MLS has grown a lot. A lot of players from Liga MX are coming up here because the league is improving and then add in that the quality of life is better in all aspects, that makes players want to come more and more to this league.”

Is LigaMX losing it’s elite status to the MLS for the title of best league in North America? Not yet. But with the player’s attitudes towards the league changing, along with pay, quality of life and safety, this may not be the case for long.

Just this week there was a report that Pumas’ goalkeeper Alfredo Saldivar and his wife were assaulted by police officers in the country’s capital. Situations like this and constant threats and attempted kidnappings would make players want to flee to the US in hopes of safety and security for their families.

Javier Hernadez stated in an interview upon his arrival to LA that he believes that the MLS is growing really fast and that the LigaMX owners do not want to acknowledge it. Hernandez’ thoughts may be coming to reality as the MLS is charging forward, and with signings such as Ibrahimovic, Hernandez and Vela now common. The MLS will only continue to grow in the world stage, but the question to be asked here is if LigaMX will be able to do the same.