Earlier today, the 2016 MLS SuperDraft took place, and the Chicago Fire held the first pick in the soccer league. In a shocking turn of events, the Fire traded the pick, Wake Forest midfielder Jake Harrison, to New York City FC for the fourth pick in the draft, allocation money and a player to be named later. That trade, along with multiple other trades at the top that allowed the Philadelphia Union to pick second and third, show the real issues with the MLS and their inability to poach top talent from other leagues.
The league is too set in their American sports league style. They rely on a draft, trades and small amounts of allocation money to make roster changes. As opposed to Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga, whose teams throws massive amounts of money to top-tier talent. While they have youth programs, Harrison at one time played in Manchester United's Youth Program; they do not necessarily rely on those players, instead selling them to acquire more money to sign other top players should they not be able to insert them into the squad.
The MLS can not truly become the international power it wants to be if it continues to build through a draft and trades. Trading a young player between teams is not how you make players happy. In European leagues, players can always decline a move to a team if they do not want to move. Why would a superstar like Cristiano Ronaldo ever go to an elite MLS team when they might just trade him to a bad team. It wouldn't make any sense for these elite players, which is why mostly older players looking to relive their heydays come over to the MLS.
The MLS needs to globalize its structure. Wealthy owners could take teams over and turn them into financial superpowers, allowing these teams to bring in star players. Right now, the MLS wouldn't allow that as there is a cap on transfer amounts, akin to a salary cap. No elite soccer leagues have drafts for youth players; they send scouts around the world and work out contracts with future stars. No other leagues trade players; they have transfers in which teams can negotiate with each other on monetary values to give to one another for players.
The MLS is just not set up to succeed globally in its current system. The trade involving draft picks, small amounts of money and a player to be named later truly shows that. In a sport more popular outside of America, the league needs to act like other top leagues if it wants to join the upper echelons.
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