MLS: Javier Hernandez ‘retirement’ quote just true

New LA Galaxy signing Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez brandished his move to MLS as the ‘beginning of my retirement’. Whether you like it or not, he is right.

It is the biggest transfer in Major League Soccer history. Mexican superhero Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez is joining the biggest franchise in MLS, the Los Angeles Galaxy. The two, it seems, were destined for one another.

And within a week, Hernandez is already making headlines and striking debate, this time over the general standing of MLS as a global league. And for some, his comments are not the most positive.

In a personal YouTube video on his personal channel, Hernandez gave a peek into the private life of a professional footballer when they are on the verge of completing a historic, international transfer. The video shows Hernandez calling his father and delivering the news that he is on his way to the LA Galaxy. There is one particular comment that has caused the greatest controversy:

"“Well, it’s like the beginning of my retirement <…> We’re saying goodbye to a career we put a lot of effort into, and we worked, and I know you guys feel it and we’re gonna look at the bright side and it’s going to be amazing, but whether we like it or not, we are retiring from the European dream.”"

Some have viewed this as Hernandez calling MLS a ‘retirement league’. That is not quite what he said. He said this was the end of his European dream and the beginning of a retirement that, he later clarifed, could last ten years and might include a trip to Australia, where his wife is from. But the quip that MLS is a step down from European football is unavoidable and is not a particularly great look for the league.

Obviously, anyone who tries to argue that MLS is as attractive to players genuinely looking for the highest level of competitive football is flat-out wrong. It isn’t. That said, even Hernandez being so emotional at the end of his ‘European dream’ is not a great look for a league that is obsessed with its public image, especially within the global sport.

More from MLS Multiplex

• Javier Milei Elected in Argentina: Potential Impacts on MLS and Signings of Argentine Players
• Orlando City and New York City FC in the Battle for Matías Arezo; Grêmio Enters Negotiations! Who Will Come Out on Top?
• USA, Honduras, Panama, and Canada Close in on a Spot in the 2024 Copa America
• De Gea Turns Down Al-Nassr’s Lucrative Offer: Speculation Points to Possible Reunion with Messi at Inter Miami
• Messi’s Magnetic Impact in the United States

Other American leagues are the pinnacles of their sports. MLB, the NFL and the NBA are the highest-quality leagues in the world in their respective events. That is very much not the case with MLS and soccer. You could argue that there are 10 to 20 leagues that are a higher standard than MLS, if not quite as sizable commercially.

And this is what Hernandez’s comments touch on. MLS is a step down from European football. It always has been and likely always will be. Does that make it a ‘retirement league’, as the phrase goes? Well, kind of. Not perhaps in the same manner that people used to use that phrase, a derogatory term that was motivated by the insipid, wage-obsessed meanderings of Lothar Matthaus and Walter Zenga years ago, but still with some credence.

Hernandez is not moving to MLS to challenge himself at the highest level of the sport. He even had an offer from a Ligue 1 team in France. He had only moved to Sevilla six months prior. The ‘European dream’ was still there, if he wanted it. But he was now willing to move on.

Hernandez is coming to MLS to retire. Perhaps not totally, but at least in part. That does not have to be the end of the league’s reputation, of course. But it will be if it is flat-out rejected. Acknowledgement of where MLS is is how the league will not grow, not blind ignorance.