Major League Soccer signed Son Heung-Min, Thomas Muller and Rodrigo De Paul during the 2025 summer transfer window that closed on Aug. 21, 2025. Son signed with Los Angeles F.C. through the 2027 season with options to extend two more years. Muller joined the Vancouver Whitecaps for the remainder of 2025 with an option for 2026 and will be a designated player in 2026. MLS shifted from a retirement-league reputation after mid-2010s veteran arrivals to attracting top talent and developing players such as Alphonso Davies and Tyler Adams.
Major League Soccer (MLS) welcomed South Korean star Son Heung-Min and World Cup winners Thomas Muller and Rodrigo De Paul with open arms during the 2025 summer transfer window, which closed on Aug. 21. These signings follow the pattern of America's top division importing global soccer household names in hopes of raising the league's level and profile. Son now plays for Los Angeles F.C. until the 2027 season, following in the footsteps of his former Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris.
MLS used to have a reputation of being a retirement league, when aging stars like England's Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard or World Cup winners David Villa (Spain) and Andrea Pirlo (Italy) arrived in their mid-to-late thirties. These stars, who arrived between 2014 and 2015, were the last pieces of an era when big-name players who were coming to the end of their careers would fly across the pond for one last paycheck. A decade later, the league had shed that stereotype.
Alphonso Davies, a UEFA Champions League winner with Bayern Munich alongside Muller, passed through the ranks of the Whitecaps and made 81 appearances for the first team before moving to Germany. Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams, who made 74 appearances for the New York Red Bulls between 2015 and 2019, went on to become the youngest captain of the U.S. Men's National Team since 1950 when he was selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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