top 5 highest payrolls in world football 2026 1) Al-Nassr 2) Real Madrid 3) Al-Hillal 4) Man City 5) Bayern Munich They're still crankin'. And players are still going. [And, of course, taxes are different in Saudi Arabia.] You're right that they haven't signed a huge, colossal name in a little bit. The bloom is off the rose a little bit there. One of the issues with the Saudi Pro League is actually moving to Saudi Arabia. Not just the players; but the wives and families. Convincing players to go. Moving to Miami or LA or New York is a different animal. If there's one thing the quick trend of the Chinese Super League taught me, it's that players go where the money is. Eurosnobs believe its the history or the tradition or the Champions League or whatever. Pay guys more, and they'll leave all that behind. Oscar will leave Chelsea for the Chinese Super League in his prime. Some of those players that took the money to Saudi Arabia made terrible sporting decisions. Our former MLS guy Jhon Duran is an example. But his family is set financially for generations. His financial advisor is beyond pleased. Why did Petar Musa move from Benfica to MLS in his prime? Playing time. Money. And he's going to make Croatia's World Cup roster. Not Cape Verde Island's roster................Croatia's roster. Financially, MLS is charging hard. It will never offer what Saudi Arabia can offer. But there are things in can offer. Like it did for Beckham and Messi. I mean, MLS basically handed Beckham an MLS franchise for $25 million. San Diego paid 500 million for an MLS franchise. What is Inter Miami now worth? Messi is getting a lot financially on top of his base salary. .......................and if the next superstar wants to come, MLS will find a way. But it won't be doing that for 38 year old Robert Lewandowski or someone of that ilk. He doesn't move the needle. That signing would be a sporting decision on the part of Chicago or whomever.
My gut tells me that it was questionable he'd be available before the end of the group stage and Poch wasn't willing to commit to Johnny being on the plane
Tim Howard has called out “Eurosnobs” in the USMNT fanbase 😳Even before Johnny Cardoso got injured, Howard and Landon Donovan didn’t have him in their World Cup roster. Fans didn’t like that, especially since they both included Sebastian Berhalter and Cristian Roldan.Now… pic.twitter.com/FxFyaoBhpI— GOLZ (@golz_tv) May 15, 2026
They're reasoning is perfectly.....................reasonable. I didn't have Johnny in my squad either. ...................at some point you do have to perform in a US jersey. That's true whether you're an MLS guy, a Euro guy, a Liga MX guy, etc. Its one of those things. Folks say a player hasn't performed in a US jersey, until he does. Sometimes it takes a little while. People used to say it about Malik Tillman. Then he was one of our most influential players at the Gold Cup and they don't any longer. Johnny doesn't have 2 caps. He's had 23..................
yeah well the first half of the belgium game, with johnny, was basically even then 2nd half without him and with roldan and mls and co....the doors got blown off this is a big loss and johnny was going to be a big piece in the WC imo
Johnny wasn't going to be a "big piece" this summer. Johnny Cardoso has only started three games under Pochettino. In two of those he was pulled at halftime. The third was the debacle against Switzerland in which he didn't look good (not that anybody else did either). He'd played 56 total minutes for the national team since the start of the Gold Cup in June of 2025. He's been fringe. At some point one has to pay attention to who is actually playing for the USMNT as opposed to who they want playing for the USMNT. Its like people saying Diego Luna isn't going to make the roster. Diego Luna has played in 17 of our last 20 games. Johnny Cardoso has played in 5 of our last 20 games.
usmnt fans deserve a losing team if they are as "intelligent" as you first - johnny started the belgium game - pretend that doesnt matter all you want....its a huge indication of pochs intentions second - johnny played very well vs belgium. despite the 5-2 loss....it was 1-1 with johnny on the field. he wasnt subbed due to performance.....imo he had proven himself and poch wanted to give roldan a shot (which he did not take) if you think johnny was pulled at half due to not playing well vs belgium....well nothing i or anyone can say will magically make you smart enough to analyze this sport furthermore, if you think roldan or berhalters 2nd half performances in the blegium game somehow outclassed johnny ...youre smoking something now, i will agree that johnny has not been great overall for usmnt...BUT in this belgium game, he WAS and since it was the only pot 1 team poch has played......and since he chose johnny to start that match AND johnny played well AND the mlsers DID NOT.....I DISAGREE with your bogus MLS propaganda in general, johnny is a good player who has had bad luck and troule integrating into the usmnt....but that means nothing about what wouldve happened in the world cup. poch wouldve played him a lot imo
Love the passion, but NONE of the above matters. Cardoso opted for season ending surgery. He's out of consideration for the World Cup. No use crying over spilled milk at this point.
This ^^^^. I have to think a 2030 Johnny at 28years old, without a 4 year nagging/chronic injury, with 4 years becoming a club legend at Atleti will still get a chance to live his boyood dream of playing for the USMNT in the World Cup in the Spartugocco (Morainugal?) edition.
I heard his real dream is to skip the Gold Cup and blame the result on the MLS players that showed up.
Just throwing in a stat here…the #3-#5 teams in La Liga all have ex MLSers. There are a total of 5. Only one is a Yank, though. La Liga has long been the league that American fans want to see their players break through in. MLS has enough quality now to develop players for Spanish teams making the CL. That’s remarkable.
Yup. And young players like Freeman and Vargas that have stepped into roles pretty quickly. It must make a Eurosnob's heart break. You mean an MLS developed youngster may actually be just as good as Johnny Cardoso? Yes. Probably better. There's nothing special about Johnny Cardoso. I'm sorry to break it to people. He's not Luka Modric. Yes, Johnny Cardoso just appeared in a Champions League semifinal. MLS-developed players have also appeared in Champions League semifinals. Heck, a central midfielder has. Tyler Adams.
the populations that mls draws from for international and domestic are unrelated. of course MLS spends more on international players and since there is a much much much larger pool of options to pick and choose from, the international players in MLS have an extremely high likelihood of being better than domestic. so.....if the international players are good and can do well in other leagues....it says almost nothing about domestic players in MLS. if ronaldo and foreign stars do well in saudi arabia, as a parallel, it doesnt mean domestic saudi players are as good. they arent. same with americans in MLS. besides, with the way MLS determines roster spending .....squad depth and well roundedness is also almost impossible for MLS teams.....so even when a player does well in MLS, theres a good chance it actually will not translate abroad....esp for attackers imo....MLS defenses are very poor quality. because mls doesnt spend much at all on defense. i wish players like vargas and freeman were more common but they seem to simply pop up randomly on their own.....although i do agree and like the fact that it does seem to be happening more often and hopefully this huge wave of young americans in mls this season is a sign that academies investment is paying off and becoming the new normal instead of an anomoly
Your post only makes sense if you don’t know that of the 5, only Cucho was not MLS developed. There are two Canadians, Buchanan and Oluwaseyi. You say you live in Spain but you don’t know the ex MLSers playing on top teams in Spain? Some part of your self presentation is a lie. Either you don’t live in Spain, or you don’t follow soccer.
i dont follow every soccr leavgue...i follow american players, esp usmnters. and you guys use "mls developed" way too liberally. you guys give mls credit for players like mckennie and reyna when they literally never played a minute in MLS simply bc they spent a small amount of time in mls youth academies. guy like buchanon...jumped from mls to belgium ......but according to mls apologists "mls developed him to play in la liga".....what about the credit due for the intermediate steps in europe that got him there??????!?!? the key important thing for me is that the developemtn continues in europe...and is essential for most usmnt players when americans stay in mls they become jesus ferreria, jordan morris, roldan, brandon vazquez, kellyn acosta, omar gonzalez, miles robinson, will trapp, wondolowski, etc they need to move up the ladder to improve and mls is not near the top of the ladder yeah a chris richards was technically affliated with fc dallas....but so little of his development into an epl player happened in mls.....same with a guy like pepi.....he was nowhere close to being ready for the epl when he left mls.....so mls got him started...but thats it. but guys like you will say mls developed ricardo pepi......
Can't we all just get along on the day Celtic, with Wilfred Nancy's imprint still fresh, won the SPL....
By definition, Ricardo Pepi was developed by an MLS club. He's from San Elizario, a poor neighborhood near the Mexican border in El Paso. From a very young age, he trained with FC Dallas' affiliate in El Paso. At the age of 13, Dallas moved him up to their home base in Frisco. He was developed thru their academy teams, thru their reserve team North Texas, and into their first team. From there developed into a first team player and broke into the USMNT. His first cap, while a Dallas player, was a road WCQer against Honduras (in which he scored). Another USMNTer comes from that same Dallas affiliate in El Paso. Alex Zendejas. Same pathway. I remember a story about how the Dallas coaches in El Paso used to pick Zendejas up at the border to take him to training every day. There is no Alex Zendejas or Ricardo Pepi in the USMNT without FC Dallas.
Looking forward to the day when the next Pepi and Zendejas are having success by coming up through the El Paso Locomotive academy and helping them get to USL-P before moving abroad.
he was developed into being a bench player in germany (16 appearances, 0 goals his first season) that needed a loan to netherlands to a poor fc gronigen team basically MLS got him the interest from abroad - which is not nothing - but IT DID NOT PREPARE HIM ADEQUATELY to jump into playing in europe. i mean, yeah im glad MLS can be a launch pad for the pepis of the world. its great. but when a player like pepi leaves MLS and STRUGGLES in europe...it shows that MLS development isnt actually good enough. he needed european development to get to where he is now. if pepi never left MLS, he wouldnt have become the player he is now.....so i just disagree with th idea that "MLS developed Pepi" MLS gave pepi his start....imo got him started in soccer.....Europe developed his talents. and this has been the case for 90+% of the americans who have left MLS for europe...their development happened in europe.....moreso than MLS.....thats where they became the finished players that they became. the fact that most of these guys wouldnt have become as goos as they did if they never left MLS.....makes me resist saying MLS developed them. for me i use developed as in turned them into their best versions - which mls simply doesnt do.
Pepi kicked a ball for the first time on his first day of training at FC Dallas. Years later all of Europe would develop him. Truly an inspirational story.