Five MLS stars whose transfer values have shot up this season, featuring forgotten Leeds Utd regret

Thanks to the arrival of such stars as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Olivier Giroud, MLS boasts a greater array of big-name players than at any stage in the league’s history.

Beyond the household names, though, there is a cast of emerging talents who are developing rapidly into some of the best and most consistent players in US soccer’s top division.

Here are five MLS stars whose performances this season have seen their statuses and market values rise exponentially.

Mateusz Bogusz

Polish midfielder Mateusz Bogusz made just one league appearance for Leeds United earlier in his career despite being on the Yorkshire club’s books for four years.

He signed for Los Angeles FC ahead of the 2023 MLS season and his performances in US soccer’s top flight this season should be a cause of great regret at Elland Road.

Blessed with a rocket of a right foot, Bogusz has a penchant for the spectacular, regularly producing highlight-worthy strikes from range. But this season has seen the 22-year-old improve his goal threat by becoming more adept at timing runs into the penalty area, leading to a career-best return of 13 goals.

Also contributing five assists, Bogusz has been a key figure in LAFC’s charge towards the top seed in the Western Conference standings.

Evander

Portland Timbers No.10 Evander is enjoying a breakout second season in MLS. The Brazilian joined the Western Conference side from FC Midtjylland in a club-record $10 million deal ahead of the 2023 campaign. And in his maiden season in Oregon the former Vasco da Gama star produced a respectable return of nine goals and four assists.

This term the 26-year-old has entered the echelon of the league’s MVP contenders, though, eclipsing both tallies by notching 11 goals and providing 11 assists in just 20 appearances to date.

Evander was a standout for Brazil at under-17 level, helping the Selecao youngsters win the South American championship in that age group in 2015. But he has received no international recognition since his mid-teens. If he can maintain his current stellar form in MLS, interest from major European clubs and a first senior Brazil call-up will be inevitable.

“The difference between good players and really good players is really good players make others around them look better and Evander does that,” Timbers manager Phil Neville said of the Brazilian. “I don’t see a better 10 in either conference at this moment in time than Evander. That’s how good I rate him — and there’s some good No. 10 in these conferences.”

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Dejan Joveljic

Still only 24 years old, Dejan Joveljic has lived something of an itinerate career thus far, after beginning in his native Serbia with Red Star Belgrade before spells with Eintracht Frankfurt, Anderlecht and Wolfsberger AC.

He arrived in MLS in 2021, signing for Los Angeles Galaxy in a $4 million deal. He’d enjoyed a prolific campaign on loan with Wolfsberger in the Austrian top flight the previous season, scoring 18 league goals in 34 games, but he struggled to find consistency Stateside.

Just two goals over the back half of the 2021 MLS term was followed by a respectable return of 12 the following year. But then last season saw the Serbian striker score just six goals across 37 all-competitions outings for the five-time MLS Cup champions.

This season, however, Joveljic has delivered the best campaign of his career to date, equalling his previous high of 12 goals while setting a new top mark for assist with four, doing so in just 18 starts.

A classic No.9, Joveljic has become a master of sniffing out opportunities in the penalty area, benefitting from the creativity of team-mates Riqui Puig, Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil to establish himself as one of the deadliest finishers in MLS.

Lewis Morgan

A four-and-a-half-year MLS veteran, Lewis Morgan has so impressed with the New York Red Bulls this season that his form caught the eye of Scotland manager Steve Clarke, who handed the 28-year-old a first international call-up since 2018 when he selected him for the Tartan Army’s Euro 2024 squad.

The former Celtic attacker spent two seasons with Inter Miami after moving to the States in 2020. But his breakthrough campaign in MLS came after he joined the Red Bulls in 2022, with 15 goals and three assists from 33 appearances.

A hip injury limited Morgan to just six outings in 2023, but he has bounced back this term to produce his best form yet, often thriving in a more central role as he has fired in 12 goals from just 21 appearances, including a hat-trick against Inter Miami in March.

Luca Orellano

Flying wing-back Luca Orellano is only on loan with FC Cincinnati this season from Vasco da Gama. But his outstanding performances in MLS will have made the reigning Supporters’ Shield champions keen to tie him down permanently by triggering their option to buy him outright.

They might have to act quickly in doing so, too, as the 24-year-old Argentinian’s eye-catching form will surely be attracting rival interest.

A dynamic and creative attacking force who can play at wing-back on either flank or even further forward as an out-and-out winger or No.10, Orellano earned an All-Star selection in July after scoring five goals and providing four assists.

“The goal is to be champion,” Orellano said of his ambitions with Cincy. “That’s what we want without a doubt, and I think we’re prepared to do it. Individually, it’s about helping the team the most I can, if it’s goals, assists or defending when I’m playing as a full-back or wing-back. It’s just helping the team however I can.”

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