To hear Garth Lagerwey tell it, MLS has mostly existed in a world parallel to the rest of global soccer. While plenty of notable players have and do play here, the vast majority of MLS teams are in the business of buying finished products and have rarely invested real money on players who could eventually be sold.
There have been examples of teams bucking that trend over the years, but this year we’ve seen MLS not only selling players with more regularity but also paying seven- or eight-figure transfer fees on potential.
Shortly after announcing that they’d completed the transfer for 21-year-old Brazilian attacker Léo Chú, the Sounders GM seemed almost giddy to be joining the fray.