MLS set an all-time record for transfer fees in 2025

With Major League Soccer signing European stars like Thomas Müller and Son Heung-min, it felt like a turning point, as the league has been now bringing in players that are at the top of their games, elevating the level of play on the field and MLS' reputation on the world stage.

In 2025, the MLS shattered its previous spending records, spending unprecedented amounts on transfers. The league is clearly taking the next step forward, signing established players in their prime, increasing the overall quality of play and increasing visibility internationally.

This year, both the winter and the summer transfer window illustrated the MLS growth. MLS clubs spent around $336 million on transfer fees in total. That’s the most ever for the league, and a 75% jump from $188 million in 2024.

While this shows MLS’s increasing ambition and financial investment, it pales in comparison to European leagues where Premier League clubs alone spent $4 billion total. Then Serie A came second at $1.2 billion, Bundesliga $762 million, La Liga $685 million and Ligue 1 $684 million. 

But for this is a significant moment for MLS, a league that has long been thought to be in a developmental market. Across those two transfer windows, the spending frenzy took MLS into uncharted waters, with eight transfers over $10 million.

The record-breaker transfers

The spending spree in 2025 had a continuous flow of record signings. MLS’s transfer fee record was broken three times in one season. 

FC Cincinnati started in February by signing Kévin Denkey for roughly $16.3 million which was a record at the time when the deal was agreed upon in late 2024. 

Shortly after, Atlanta United signed Emmanuel Latte Lath for $22 million. And then the biggest splash came in August when LAFC signed Son Heung-min for about $26.5 million, which stands as the new MLS all-time record. 

What made 2025 more unique, aside from the high-profile signings, was the change in the rules. For the first time, MLS allowed "cash-for-player" trades between its own clubs. 

This changed how MLS operated historically which had heavily relied on General Allocation Money. That new mechanism allowed more than $40 million to circulate within MLS which allowed the league to keep star players while allowing it to exist in the market in a more fluid way.

The international reach was also impressive. The MLS teams signed a total of 169 players from 50 countries, with an huge number of players arriving from Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, and England. 

The average age in 2025 was 25, indicating a focus on signing players coming out of their prime rather than project players or veteran players. 

And the previous numbers really put it into perspective. Spending in 2025 was far ahead of recent years — $188 million in 2024, $172 million in 2023, $163 million in 2022, and only $103 million in 2019. And with the summer window now more aligned with Europe, MLS showed in 2025 that is well equipped to spin a lot of money, quickly.

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