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MLS gives teams $37 million, tells them who they’re allowed to sign with it
They can’t just raise the cap and cut the nonsense.
Jason Mowry-USA TODAY Sports
Major League Soccer keeps making more money and pulling in big expansion fees. They could raise the salary cap or eliminate it altogether, but they don’t want to do that. It would lead to the league’s middle class making way more money, which MLS doesn’t think makes their league better. That’s why they’ve put $37 million in the Targeted Allocation Money and Homegrown Player funds.
This means that every team can spend a lot more money, but only on youth players and Designated Players. It allows ultra-cheap owners to field competitive teams without spending lots of money, but more importantly than that, it lets rich teams bring in more star players.
Meanwhile, your favorite longtime MLS veterans get nothing. They’re the ones driving the best teams in the league to MLS Cup, but MLS isn’t popular enough for trophies to matter more than star players.
Goal of the day
Lionel Messi’s against Bayer Leverkusen. (r/soccer)
In the news
On the day he was suspended by France, Karim Benzema thanked Real Madrid for continuing to support him. (AS)
Jose Mourinho hit Iker Casillas with a burn after beating him: “Now he can win the only cup he’s missing: the Europa League.“ (MARCA)
Riyad Mahrez says Leicester can’t win the Premier League. (BBC)
Mike Ashley tried to have Rangers’ chairman put in jail and it didn’t work. (Guardian)
Diego Costa admitted he was wrong in the bib-throwing incident, which Mourinho says is over. (Mirror)
You should be reading
Omar Almasri on how soccer and politics mixing hurt the game in Yemen. (These Football Times)
Dustin Ward on Wolfsburg, post-Kevin De Bruyne. (Stats Bomb)
Simon Goodley and Jonathan Ashby on how much it absolutely blows to work at Mike Ashley’s SportsDirect. (Guardian)
What happened on Wednesday
What to watch on Thursday (click for listings, all times ET)
Europa League: 24 games (from 1 p.m.) -- Liverpool-Sion is your best early game, while Besiktas-Sporting is the best late one.
