Former Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has urged Major League Soccer, MLS, to stop relying on the likes of Lionel Messi and find a long-term solution to make the league attractive.
Wright-Phillips, a former Chelsea winger, said that players like Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suarez may have joined the league because of Messi, adding that this is not the best way forward.
Speaking to Football Betting, Wright-Phillips said that the American league is only bringing in players closer to retirement.
He said via Goal, “But when they do retire, they do the same thing again — they look for the next batch of players at that age.
“They need to find a longer fix and have a player of that calibre come to America and play his career there. They may have to create their own.
“At the minute the kingpin is obviously Messi, but [Sergio] Busquets is there as well, [Luis] Suarez, Jordi Alba, they have got a lot of big names over there now.”
Messi moved to Inter Miami in 2023 after his contract at PSG expired.
