Outgoing commissioner Don Garber has backed the bright young things of the MLS to establish the competition as "one of the top leagues in the world", highlighting Cavan Sullivan as a prospect who can help improve the standing of the competition even after departing the Philadelphia Union. MLS has struck a rich seam of youth talent this season, one that USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino exploited in the first set of post-World Cup fixtures where the U.S. won all four of their friendly matches. Sullivan was among the star performers in those games, scoring twice, while Adri Mehmeti won his first three caps.
These two were named among the 60 best young talents in world football by The Guardian this week, a group that includes three other youngsters who ply their trade in MLS. Real Salt Lake's Van Parker has a strong record at youth level with Canada, while Jahmarie Nolan of Toronto FC has already made his senior debut with Jamaica. Caleb Simmons of New York Red Bulls rounded out the MLS names on the list, meaning that there were more representatives from the American division than Germany's Bundesliga.
MLS has long had a reputation as something of a retirement home for the stars of yesteryear but these top prospects have Garber, whose 27-year tenure as commissioner will conclude at the end of the year, seeing a different future for the league. Speaking at sports industry conference Leaders Week London at Stamford Bridge, Garber explained his vision for MLS in a decade's time. "I believe that we'll have among the most competitive leagues in the world," he said.
"The Guardian came up with the top young players in the world. I think there were 50 or 60 of them. Six are young MLS players.
Eight are young Premier League players." Five were MLS, while a separate list of 20 of the best youngsters in the Premier League was also published, but the point still stands, and that's that some of the best young players in MLS are getting more and more recognition overseas and producing even more positive exposure for the league. "What's Cavan Sullivan at [17], who is a star for a national team, going to look like when he is 26? He's probably playing for the top one or two teams in the world and winning a Champions League trophy and lifting a trophy for the United States," Garber said.
"What does that mean for Major League Soccer? I think it's going to mean we'll be a very different league. "We've got great leadership.
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