Liverpool icon and USMNT star among 6 former Premier League players thriving in MLS

These former Premier League stars have been thriving in MLS

These former Premier League stars have been thriving in MLS

Former Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal stars are among the former Premier League players who are currently thriving in MLS.

Whether it’s a swansong for a player in his mid-30s or the chance to reignite a promising career that had stalled in its earlier stages, Major League Soccer has long offered a home for footballers making a transatlantic trip from Europe.

Lionel Messi – fitting firmly into the former category – is, of course, the most notable current example. But there are also several players that once plied their trade in England’s top flight who have found success Stateside.

Here are six former Premier League players currently thriving in MLS.

Luis Suarez

Suarez might only be six games into his Inter Miami career, but already the former Liverpool and Barcelona striker has made a huge impact, scoring four goals and providing five assists.

The 37-year-old has teamed up with old Camp Nou colleagues Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba at Chase Stadium, as the David Beckham-owned club set their sights on dominating US soccer in the same way their ageing stars once ruled over La Liga.

Following a season with Gremio in which he was named Brazil’s Player of the Year after scoring 17 goals in 33 games, Suarez continues to defy the effects of age and the deterioration of his knees to prove he can still perform to almost unmatchable levels.

Christian Benteke

Benteke moved to DC United midway through the 2022 MLS season and the former Crystal Palace and Aston Villa marksman got off to a slow start Stateside, netting just once in his first seven outings.

But last season – his first full campaign in the US – the 33-year-old proved he still knows where the goal is, scoring 14 times in 31 league games to earn a spot on the MLS All-Star team.

So far this season, injury has limited Benteke to just one appearance for DC, but with a hat-trick against the New England Revolution, he showed he is ready to carry forward the momentum he generated with his performances in 2023.

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Carles Gil

Next up is another ex-Aston Villa player, albeit one who made distinctly less of an impact in the West Midlands than Benteke.

There were high hopes for Spanish winger Gil when he arrived at Villa Park from Valencia in January 2015. But he went on to play just 34 games for the club over the next two and a half years.

His only full season in the Villa first team saw the club relegated to the Championship. After a loan move back to Spain with Deportivo La Coruna, he was sold to the New England Revolution in 2019.

In MLS, however, Gil took flight. He scored 10 goals in his first season with the Revolution and was named the MLS Newcomer of the Year. He has since won one league MVP award and twice been named in the MLS Best XI, as well as helping New England claim the Supporters’ Shield – the award for the team with the best regular-season record – in 2021.

Cucho Hernandez

Like Gil, Hernandez only played in the Premier League for one full season. And, also like Gil, that season ended with his club, Watford, being relegated to the Championship.

The 24-year-old Colombian striker showed signs of his vast potential in loan moves away from Vicarage Road – most notably a stint with Huesca in Spain’s second tier that saw him score 16 goals in 36 games – but since his arrival in MLS in 2022, Hernandez has been outstanding.

Last season, he scored 22 goals in 34 games to fire Columbus Crew to the MLS Cup. He has begun the new campaign brightly, too, scoring twice in three games. A big-money return to Europe will be inevitable if his form holds steady.

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Matt Miazga

United States international Miazga was a Chelsea player for six and a half years, yet he only made two Premier League appearances for the Blues. A constant string of loans – to Vitesse, Nantes, Reading, Anderlecht and Alaves – was eventually broken in 2022 when he made a permanent switch back to MLS with FC Cincinnati.

Before joining Chelsea as a teenager, the towering centre-back had twice won the Supporters’ Shield with the New York Red Bulls. And in his first full season back in his homeland, he repeated the trick, helping Cincinnati top the regular-season standings last term as he was named the MLS Defender of the Year.

The hot-headed USMNT star started the 2024 season with a suspension, however, levied after he was found to have aggressively confronted the match officials after a playoff game against the Red Bulls back in November.

Carlos Vela

Vela’s career in European footballer is better remembered for his six and a half seasons in Spain with Real Sociedad – where he scored 61 goals in 213 games – than his 64 appearances across three years with Arsenal.

But it is in MLS that Vela will be remembered as a legend. The Mexican forward joined the fledgling LAFC in 2018 and was an instant hit, scoring 15 goals in 31 games during his debut season with the expansion club.

A glorious six-year stay in Los Angeles yielded 187 games, 93 goals, two Supporters’ Shields, an MLS Cup and an MLS MVP award.

The 35-year-old is currently a free agent after his contract with LAFC expired at the end of last season. Reports suggest the club hope to re-sign the veteran striker. Irrespective of what comes next for Vela, he will be regarded as one of the greatest players in MLS history.

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