One can say that US soccer is going through a golden period. Just look at the national team Mauricio Pochettino has at his disposal. Many of them are prominent players in Europe’s top clubs. And they have come up through the ranks of the MLS youth setups, which tells you all you need to know about the league’s foundational basis. And the flourishing talent is not limited to just the US players. The entire ecosystem is thriving, with teams from all around the world willing to pay top dollar for MLS talent. And the recent Thiago Almada transfer has kept the trend going, it seems.

The summer transfer window is open, and clubs are revamping and plugging their squads with all the necessary reinforcements. For Atletico Madrid, that involves signing Argentine attacker Thiago Almada from Brazilian club Botafogo. But in doing so, MLS club Atlanta United is getting substantial compensation. How so? Well, Almada was once an Atlanta United player. We will get to that later. It’s the latest transfer fee that has become the key talking point.

MLS and USMNT Insider, Tom Bogert, dropped a juicy update on X on July 16. “Atlanta United due to receive $25m in the total transfer of Thiago Almada to Botafogo, I’m told … Atlanta still have a sell-on clause, which is key as Almada is close to joining Atletico Madrid.” And what it has done is put Almada in 2nd place on the list of the highest transfer fees received by MLS clubs for outgoing players.

Bogert shared a tweet on the same day, which showed the top 5 outgoing MLS transfers in terms of transfer fees. Almada stands second with a fee of $25 million. That sum is more than what Bayern Munich paid the Vancouver Whitecaps for star full-back Alphonso Davies. Davies cost the Bundesliga club $22 million. In fourth place is Miguel Almiron, with a $20 million fee that Newcastle United paid Atlanta United. Djordje Petrovic finishes in the top 5 with a value of $19.5m, which Chelsea paid to the New England Revolution.

Only Jhon Duran was paid more than Almada, with the transfer fee for the Colombian standing at $30.7 million. Mind you, the figures in the tweet include the overall payment received by the MLS clubs. That includes the fee upfront, the add-ons, and the sell-on clause sum.

In fact, both Duran and Almada’s transfer fees got a boost from sizable sell-on additions. Atlanta sold their Argentine youngster to Botafogo in July 2024 for a fee of $21 million. But add-ons and sell-on clauses could take Atlanta’s compensation to as high as $30 million. Don’t know about the add-ons, but Botafogo’s sale meant the 2023 MLS Young Player of the Year has earned Atlanta United a total of $25 million.

Similarly, Duran was initially sold by the Chicago Fire in an £18m ($22.3m) deal to English club Aston Villa. But then, the Premier League club sold the 21-year-old striker to Saudi club Al-Nassr for an undisclosed fee, rumored to be as high as £64 million. Maybe that exorbitant fee has added a sizable chunk to the $30.7 million.

10 years ago, this kind of transfer fee would have been unthinkable for an MLS prospect. Well, this only bodes well for MLS, doesn’t it?

Many others, like Thiago Almada, and the rise of US Soccer

Just consider the following names: Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Weston McKenna, Folarin Balogun, Timothy Weah, Antonee Robinson, Sergino Dest, Tim Ream, Yunus Musah, and Chris Richards. These are the players who will represent the USMNT in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. How good are they? Pulisic is the captain of the USMNT and is a Champions League winner, considered the most prestigious trophy in club football.

The 26-year-old is arguably the best talent of this generation. He has even won Cups in Germany and Italy and is a regular starter for every club he has played. Quality—check; consistency—check. And the buck doesn’t stop with him. Players like Reyna and McKenna play at top clubs like Borussia Dortmund and Juventus. Antonee Robinson is one of the prominent names in the Premier League when it comes to the full-back position. And many of them have had their budding stages in MLS’s youth academies.

Chris Richards, the 25-year-old center-back, is the future of the US defensive setup. Before he spent 4 years at Bayern Munich, he was at Texans SC Houston and FC Dallas, developing his foundations. Thanks to his aerial ability, his composure, and his ball-playing skills, he has become a regular at Crystal Palace. The 6’3” defender played the entire 90 minutes in the 2025 FA Cup Final, in which Crystal Palace secured a historic 1-0 win over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Behind all this talent is the supportive guidance of Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine coach has the pedigree of being a success in the Premier League and the Champions League. The world is slowly taking notice of the ascendancy of American soccer. It’s clear that the MLS has many talents like Thiago Almada that Europe’s top leagues search for. And we think they have a lot more to offer the world.