Shaun Wright-Phillips hopes there will come a day when the likes of Christian Pulisic can stay in MLS, rather than immediately head to Europe.
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Top talents seek opportunities elsewhereRules in the States holding MLS backChanges could help to deliver bright futureFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! đŸŸ¢đŸ“±WHAT HAPPENED?
While domestic soccer in America has come a long way, and is currently enjoying another boom courtesy of eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, there are issues that still need to be addressed.
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Retaining home-grown talent is one of those, as USMNT stars of the present and future continue to look outside of the United States for opportunities and pay packets that match their ambition.
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Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna and Tim Weah are among the stars to have headed to Europe at an early age in order to chase their dream – with it determined that such pathways would be blocked off in the States.
ImagnWHAT SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS SAID
Former Manchester City and Chelsea star Wright-Phillips, who spent time in America with the New York Red Bulls at the end of his career, told GOAL while speaking via , Football Betting when asked if a day will come when players of promise remain in MLS: "I really hope so. For the sport there, I really hope so. It’s nice for a country to be able to do that.
"Pretty much every other country can do that – even the ones that we say don’t have big fan bases, you can still make a career there. It’s only Americans that are struggling with that. You have got Central American players coming up and surviving and playing, but it’s the Americans that are thinking ‘I need to leave America or I need to retire’."