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Leagues and Governing Bodies

MLS Franchises Landing Top International Players Could Signal New Era For League

Impact coach Remi Garde said that the team's signing of Serie A club Bologna MF Saphir Taïder is an "example of the growing prestige of MLS among European players," according to Pat Hickey of the MONTREAL GAZETTE. Garde said, "The image of MLS is changing in the eyes of European players. Until a year or two ago, it was easy to convince older players at the end of their career to come to MLS to play, (just) for fun, a last season. But the view of MLS is growing fast for this kind of player who’s 25 or 26 and says: ‘I’m a good player in Europe but if I go to MLS, I have a good chance to discover something else, a new challenge" (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 1/23). YAHOO SPORTS' Leander Schaerlaeckens wrote Atlanta United's signing of MF Ezequiel Barco "feels like a watershed moment" for MLS. The $15M transfer fee for Barco "smashes the league’s record" of about $9.2M. Barco is 18 and "won’t turn 19 until a few weeks into the season." He is a "bona fide megaprospect." He is "young, he plays a prized position and he’s Argentine." He could have "gone anywhere." Barco is the sort of player who "would have been on the radar of even the very biggest clubs." With time, Barco "could have more or less chosen his destination from any number of reputable European suitors." Schaerlaeckens: "But he chose Atlanta. He chose MLS." He decided that the place he would "like to continue his maturation is a league that many still consider a cut or two below the top circuits in the world." And by that gesture alone, this is a "win for the league" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/19).

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