MLS Breaks Spending Records on Signings: An In-Depth Analysis
Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs have set a new milestone in the transfer market, with a record spending of around $336 million on transfers during 2025. This figure represents almost double the previous record of $188 million, recorded in 2024.
According to MLS data, this expenditure places the league as the eighth highest investor worldwide, surpassing the Liga MX of Mexico by a wide margin.
Although the MLS signing period has already concluded, the transfer windows in other leagues, such as European leagues and Liga MX, remain open until September. This suggests that the figures could increase even further.
The increase in spending has been notable, with the MLS transfer record being broken three times in 2025. FC Cincinnati invested $16.3 million to secure Kévin Denkey, surpassing the previous record of $16 million set by Atlanta United to sign Thiago Almada in February 2022.
Subsequently, Atlanta United allocated $22 million to acquire Emmanuel Latte Lath from Middlesbrough, a team in the English second division. However, the record was surpassed again when LAFC signed South Korean superstar Son Heung-Min from Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League for a sum of $26 million.Other clubs have also made significant investments, such as the Colorado Rapids, who signed Paxten Aaronson from Eintracht Frankfurt for a record fee of $8 million.
The MLS has highlighted that almost half of its clubs have made record signings in the last two years.
This increase in spending has also been driven by the implementation of an internal cash transfer market in 2025.
Previously, clubs could only transfer players to other MLS teams using non-monetary assets. Now, as in the international market, teams can use an unlimited amount of cash to acquire players.
This system has facilitated the spending of more than $40 million on 11 different players so far, according to the league.
Regarding international leagues, Brazil’s first division has transferred the most players to MLS, with 11. Argentina follows with 10, while eight players were signed from both England and Portugal.
A considerable amount of money has also left the league, with seven different players transferred for at least $10 million, in line with the goal of Don Garber, MLS commissioner, to make it a relevant player in the global transfer market.
