Star forward Obafemi Martins has left MLS for the big-spending Chinese league. The move will hurt the Seattle Sounders in 2016, but don't look for it to mean much more.
Obafemi Martins leaving Major League Soccer for the riches of the Chinese Super League may set off alarm bells in the minds of some fans, but it shouldn't. Don Garber isn't working the emergency phone calling up MLS owners to start throwing around large sums of money in order to keep up with the big spenders from the Far East. Nor are the stars of MLS lining up at the airport for a voyage to join the likes of Jackson Martinez and Ezequiel Lavezzi in the land of exorbitant transfer fees and contracts that suddenly make MLS designated player deals look like rookie contracts.