Standing in front of a crowd of media members and MLS executives in a suite at Dignity Health Sports Park in December, Don Garber didn’t mince words.
“I saw something in the news today about Transfermarkt values of each [Club World Cup] club, and clearly MLS teams are at the lower quadrant of Transfermarkt value,” the MLS commissioner said, citing the popular soccer transfers website. He'd just been asked if MLS’s representatives in FIFA’s expanded club tournament are ready compete against European and South American opposition.
Always looking forward as his job title dictates, Garber added: “That’s something over time that I hope to be able to see continue to grow as our teams are investing more in players and hopefully generating more revenue to justify that expense.” But the message from the commissioner to MLS’s participating teams and their fans was clear – as far as the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup is concerned, keep your expectations low.
It’s easy to see Garber’s perspective. It will be unlikely for the Seattle Sounders, Inter Miami, or LAFC to make a deep run in a tournament that features reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain, along with Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and other giants. But just how unlikely would it be, really?
Let’s answer that question ahead of Saturday’s group stage opener — and examine how MLS’s entrants compare to the rest of the field — using three different club ranking systems as our guides.
Transfermarkt’s squad values
We’re starting with the metric Garber cited this past winter: Transfermarkt values.
