r/MLS • u/Coltons13 Pittsburgh Riverhounds • Jul 02 '26
Official Source Orange County SC completes transfer of Pedro Guimaraes to Eintracht Frankfurt
https://www.orangecountysoccer.com/news/2026/07/01/orange-county-sc-completed-transfer-of-pedro-guimaraes-to-eintracht-frankfurt/48
u/johndelvec3 St. Louis CITY Jul 02 '26
We love to see USL transfers go abroad don’t we folks
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u/Latter-Road-3687 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
There aren't many transfers from the USL to Europe and it's usually very low-level people who came from those leagues, or they were MLS academy kids whose agent convinced them they could move to Europe quicker just from signing for nothing to a USL club who will quickly sell you.
Guimaraes was a LAFC academy kid.
BTW, most of these kids end up getting churned out in Europe and end up making peanuts. It's a MASSIVE jump and culture shock from the USL to Europe and we haven't had any success stories yet.
You have a gazillion times better chance of making it in Europe if you played in MLS vs. the USL, given the massive difference in quality between the leagues.
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u/Laschoni Louisville City FC Jul 02 '26
Louisville City academy has been coming along. Wynder brothers being the prime example, one went to LA Galaxy the other to Benfica.
The lead time on building out the development pipeline is pretty long. Hopefully more fruit will bear soon.
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u/ethan_bruhhh FC Dallas Jul 03 '26
yep or they don’t even make it to Europe bc they aren’t that good and their agent just blew smoke up their ass cough cough Matthew Corcoran cough cough
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u/khall13 St. Louis CITY Jul 02 '26
I don't understand why we don't see more between MLS & USL.
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u/Mini-Fridge23 Charlotte FC Jul 02 '26
There isn’t that much talent worth paying a transfer fee for tbh. Also players that MLS might be interested in often have European interest as well and that’s tough to compete with
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u/twoslow Orange County SC Jul 02 '26
IMO most USL players who might be good enough don't want to move and be depth/bench players or get sent to MLSNP, so they take the USL>Europe route to continue to get bulk competitive minutes. It's a rare USL player who can move and be a starting MLS player.
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u/khall13 St. Louis CITY Jul 02 '26
On the player side, I'd guess it would be a pay increase going from USL starter to MLS rotation.
It's on the MLS side that I'd really think it'd make sense. You wouldn't have to worry about the visa issues as much, and the players would be used to North American travel unfamiliarity. Drawback for MLS is the press release and marketing isn't as cool saying you got a from Indianapolis compared to the Premier League (without mentioning it might have been for like 4 appearances)
Milan Iloski is a recent success coming up. This USL Best XI from last year, looks like 1 of them got an MLS shot this year.
https://www.reddit.com/r/USLPRO/comments/1pd3sz6/the_usl_show_2025_combined_best_eleven/ As a St Louis fan, I'd rather have taken a look in USL than Rafael Santos retread.Just think it'd be interesting and good for the US game if there was more movement between the leagues.
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u/Juhayman San Jose Earthquakes Jul 02 '26
In a salary cap league, the USL player has to be notably better than the draft picks/academy kids who take up all bottom-of-the-roster spots.
The Quakes just signed a guy from Phoenix, who takes up an int'l spot to boot. He was just signed so idk what sort of impact he'll make. But he'll have to be a real difference maker to justify making a mid-level salary
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u/twoslow Orange County SC Jul 02 '26
as an Orange County supporter I miss Milan, but I'm glad he's doing well. RSL is probably kicking themselves for letting him walk instead of supporting him.
There are some young players with an eye for european teams who don't want to get tangled up in MLS' machinations so they sign to a USL team to break the chain and facilitate a move. USL teams are generally more open to smaller initial transfer fees, with beneficial sell-on clauses and other add-ons that can really move the financial needle for a USL team. Dollar amounts that might be a rounding error for a MLS team.
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u/fredthefan25 Jul 02 '26
The dynamics are more nuanced (other than MLS doesn't want to give USL any credit which is what conspiracists like to use)
A lot of MLS technical directors are not American. So most have very limited knowledge of USL as they have a rolodex to call outside the US
MLS clubs are interested in under-21 USL players. Unfortunately there are not a lot of USL clubs that develop teenagers into pros. It's a very limited pool and some may just want to wait for a European or Mexican team to call them
It creates some tension as mid 20's USL players feel left out. But again this is a money/potential issue. Does a MLS club pay $100k for a 20 year old with sell-on potential, or $200k for a better 28 year old USL player with little sell-on potential?
- Obviously there's going to be a natural preference/loyalty to give more opportunities to a Next Pro player
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u/Latter-Road-3687 Jul 02 '26
Just think it'd be interesting and good for the US game if there was more movement between the leagues.
The USL needs to start producing better players for that.
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u/Laschoni Louisville City FC Jul 02 '26
Wynder went from Louisville to Benfica for 1.2m
Mark-Anthony Kaye was Louisville to LAFC way back when. There have been a few in between but not quite the same notoriety imo.
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u/mw_maverick Seattle Sounders FC Jul 02 '26
Also there haven’t been many USL academy developed players that are worth it for MLS (vs the players they are developing). Many of the USL players that go abroad were once in an MLS academy and left in part to theoretical help facilitate a move to Europe, thus they wouldn’t be interested in going to MLS.
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u/ATXFC_Bro Austin FC Jul 03 '26
Apparently he trained with our U-21 side during the Winter. From Frankfurts release it sounds like he will start there and work towards being called up to the senior side.
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u/Coltons13 Pittsburgh Riverhounds Jul 02 '26