MLS Teams Focus on Young Stars
MLS teams have stopped signing old glories this season and are now focusing on the new jewels of the soccer world. But only temporarily. Iker Casillas and 'Chicharito' Hernandez are the latest former stars rumored to land in the American league.
And they are not the only ones. Others like Fernando Torres or the Italians Mario Balotelli (Nice) and Claudio Marchisio (Juventus) could follow in the next few months the steps of the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who admitted to regretting playing a season and a half at Manchester United instead of joining the ranks of the Los Angeles Galaxy earlier.
The most prominent name is that of Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
The former Real Madrid player, now at Porto, is out of contract in Portugal this summer and all eyes are on his possible move to the Chicago Fire, which would make him the second franchise goalkeeper of the Major League Soccer after the American Tim Howard.
In Chicago, Casillas would play alongside German Bastian Schweinsteiger, who joined the North American championship in 2017.
The 33-year-old midfielder led his team to the playoffs for the first time in five years, scoring three goals and providing five assists in his first season, which earned him a spot in the All-Star team that played against Real Madrid.
The presence of the German paid off, so the team from the Windy City hopes to repeat the move with the 36-year-old legendary goalkeeper, World Cup and European champion with Spain.
"Half "Tri" in Los Angeles?"
Another team interested in changing their recent results is D.C. United, which has reportedly considered Mexican Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez to strengthen their attack. The American media has also linked the striker to Los Angeles FC, who would like to team him up with his compatriot Carlos Vela and Uruguayan Diego Rossi in the attack.
The Mexican has had a season full of ups and downs at West Ham United in the English Premier League, where he never managed to settle, and could finally make the jump to the MLS, a move that has been speculated for years.
There are already teammates of his like Vela or the Dos Santos brothers playing there.
The capital's team is also considering the possible signings of Italian Mario Balotelli and even Argentine Carlos Tevez, although the signing of the 'Apache' seems complicated after recently returning to Boca Juniors.
"I'm going to retire with the Boca jersey," he said after his transfer from Chinese Shanghai Shenhua.
The last on the list is Fernando Torres. The former Spanish international announced in recent days that he will leave Atletico Madrid in June and his future could be in the MLS or the Chinese Super League.
All, except Balotelli, are well into their thirties.
MLS had moved away from this policy of signings this season, leaving behind signings like the Brazilian Kaka (Orlando City), the Italian Andrea Pirlo (New York City FC) or the English Steven Gerrard (LA Galaxy) to give way to young promises, mostly from Latin America, like the Argentine Ezequiel Barco (Atlanta United) or the Uruguayan Rossi (LA FC).
But the precedent set by Ibrahimovic, who paralyzed American sports for days, could make teams look back to try to improve their future.