MLS, Cristiano Ronaldo (Photo by Marco Rosi/Getty Images)
Orlando City winger Nani has said that he expects to see Cristiano Ronaldo in MLS. The Juventus star would represent an entirely different stratosphere from previous stars in the league.
Major League Soccer has always wanted to sign the biggest names. From its very conception, signing older players who could attract fans, even if they were well past their primes, was a key approach of many of the teams in the league — and the league itself encouraged such a recruitment approach.
More recently, the DP rule, which was crafted upon David Beckham’s arrival at the Los Angeles Galaxy, is designed such that teams can break their salary caps to sign the high-profile stars that help put the league on the global soccer map, something that its own quality and competitiveness cannot currently do.