First things first: I stole this idea from the great Bill Barnwell, who did the top 100 English Premier League transfers of all time for ESPN last week.

Second things second: I am not as brave as Bill, so I won't be doing outright rankings. While the form of the Premier League has stayed relatively steady over the past 28 years, the same can not be said of MLS. Because the nature of the league has evolved so much, so has the nature of how we can/should/will evaluate foreign signings. Was Miguel Almiron a better, more meaningful signing than Marco Etcheverry or Jaime Moreno? What about David Beckham? Where do Robbie Keane, Josef Martinez, David Villa, Carlos Ruiz, Sebastian Giovinco, Nicolas Lodeiro, Javier Morales, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Diegos Valeri y Chara and Carlos Vela fit in? Peter Nowak and Lubos Kubik, Bradley Wright-Phillips and Thierry Henry? Or OGs like Carlos Valderrama and Mauricio Cienfuegos?

I don't know! It's basically impossible to say! Too much about the league structure and how teams are allowed to construct their rosters has changed.

Did I just surreptitiously list the 20 (or so) best foreign imports in league history in some order? Maybe! Probably! You can't hold me to that!

Anyway, rankings are hard. If you say that Almiron and Josef were better, more important signings than Etcheverry and Moreno, you're trapped in the present. If you say that Etcheverry or Moreno were better, more important signings than Josef and Miggy, then you're a prisoner of the past. And wasn't Beckham more important than any of them? And wasn't Pibe actually the first DP, even though he wasn't officially a DP?

So rather than talking about the rankings themselves, let's talk about the four good types of MLS foreign signings over the past 25 seasons. That's right, folks, rankings are for the birds! Instead, you're about to get another Tiers piece!

But first some ground rules:

No domestic players – Americans and Canadians – are going to be considered. That means you won't see Preki, Lee Nguyen, Dwayne De Rosario or Benny Feilhaber, all of whom began their careers elsewhere, on this list

No college players or drafted players (Stern John, Kei Kamara, Stefan Frei, Andy Williams, Ryan Nelsen and a few others would each have a claim) were considered.

You had to have been a Best XI player, or a meaningful contributor on a team that was a legit competitor for a major title (MLS Cup, Supporters' Shield, U.S. Open Cup) to be considered.

After thinking long and hard, I decided not to include players who came to MLS from the lower tiers of domestic soccer, which eliminates Ozzie Alonso, Ezra Hendrickson, DeRo and Stern John for a second time, and a few others.

I tried not to include too many recent signings, since for many of them their stories aren't entirely written. That said, you'll see a few on there because even after just a couple of years, they've moved the needle.

Longevity, both with the a certain team and in the league as a whole, matters.

Sell-on fee matters, potentially a lot.

Also, no goalkeepers were considered. Apologies to Jimmy Nielsen and only Jimmy Nielsen.

Who's ready to journey back in time? Because below are the 94* best imports** in MLS history. I've italicized the players who I think are the top 25. All transfer numbers were compiled via contemporaneous reporting along with the occasional, post hoc team confirmation. Plus I had Transfermarkt open the whole time.

(*)It's actually 95 now. Scroll to the bottom, Philly fans.

(**)You know what I mean!!!! The parameters are listed right above that sentence!!!!!

Listamos? Vamanos!!!

Savvy Transfer Move That Brings Trophies/Quality

We shall start with the biggest tier. If you were around in the 1990s or '00s, your favorite player almost certainly came from this bucket. If you've just gotten on board today, there's still a decent chance your heart belongs to one of these guys. The best MLS teams have always had to be smart as hell when the chance to sign someone on a free came along.

Obviously, though, not all of these guys filed in the same tax bracket.

1990s

Raul Diaz Arce (nominal fee): The original "all he does is score goals!" poacher of the original MLS dynasty, RDA won four trophies in two years with D.C. United before bouncing around the league for four more seasons. Those first two seasons with United were magical, and that 1997 team came closer than any side in history to winning the U.S. domestic treble.

Mauricio Cienfuegos (nominal fee): HundredFires actually became a bigger star in MLS, pulling the strings in that Galaxy midfield and regularly being mentioned with the likes of Valderrama, Etcheverry and Preki as one of the best No. 10s in the league. He spent all eight of his MLS seasons in LA, and lots of Galaxy fans feel he has a better claim for that team's Mount Rushmore than Beckham does.

Robert Warzycha (free): He was a mainstay in the Crew midfield from their inception up until his final season, in 2002, and then managed them to a Shield in 2009. He's still probably one of the 10 greatest dead-ball specialists in league history.

Ronald Cerritos (nominal fee): I'll go ahead and admit that Cerritos had a better career than I originally remembered, earning one Best XI, and playing a part in the first Quakes MLS Cup-winning team (2001), then coming back for their first Shield-winning team (2005). It's a shame that he, RDA and Cienfuegos were never able to make it to a World Cup.

Peter Nowak ($500k inbound): Nowak was the prototype for modern, mobile No. 10s like Almiron and the driving force behind that ruthless 1998 Chicago Fire counterattack that put just about the only blemish on the original D.C. dynasty. He spent five years with the Fire, winning that MLS Cup and two U.S. Open Cups, and rather than play for another team (he was traded to the Revs after the 2002 season), he retired.

Lubos Kubik (free transfer): I loved Kubik, who maybe still has the best left foot in league history. He was a traditional sweeper by the time he got to the Fire – meaning he was a midfielder who was eventually moved to the middle of the backline – and my god what a passer of the ball he was. That Fire counter started at his feet about a million times that season.

Oscar Pareja (nominal fee): I'm actually not 100% certain whether Papi came for free or on a small transfer, but regardless when he got the Revs he was a little-known, fringe Colombian international in his late 20s. Four months later he was in Dallas, where he stayed for eight years. Pareja, an almost comically smooth and unflappable No. 8, was Best XI once, in 2002.

Diego Serna (nominal fee): Serna was Mr. Fusion, the only Day 1 player who spent all four years in Fort Lauderdale. The large Colombian playmaker/second forward/center forward basically went anywhere he wanted on the field, and was generally very good at it – especially in 2001, when he went for 15g/15a in about 2000 minutes for the last, Shield-winning Fusion side. He should've been the MVP that year.

For what it's worth: He had no ACL in one of his knees. I think it was his right one. Didn't stop him from putting up 57g/42a in just under 10,000 regular season minutes, though!

2000s

Miklos Molnar (nominal fee): The big Dane showed up in July and left the day after MLS Cup. In between he was the main scoring threat for a Kansas City team that won the MLS Cup and Shield double, though they did so in a way – defense, and hope Miklos gets one – that didn't exactly endear them to neutrals. Still maybe the best one-year rental in league history, especially considering his five-goals-in-seven-games playoff run.

Hristo Stoichkov (free): Three World Players of the Year/Ballon d'Or winners have played in MLS (Stoichkov, Lothar Matthaeus and Kaká). Stoichkov is the only one to have made this list, largely because he put up 9g/7a in just under 1000 minutes during his debut season (2000), during which Chicago won the Open Cup (he scored in the final) and finished runners-up for both the Shield and MLS Cup. He was the best player in the entire league for half a season and it wasn't that close. But he wasn't better than Tony Meola when it mattered most!

Alex Pineda Chacon (nominal fee): For one year, he was god. Chacon arrived in 2001 for the Miami Fusion, won the MVP award by scoring 19 goals with nine assists while leading the team to the Shield, then bounced around for three more years – starting a grand total of two games, and scoring a grand total of two goals – before retiring. That Fusion team is still one of the prettiest in MLS history, and it will always be weird that long-time attacking midfielder Chacon was so effective as, essentially, a fox-in-the-box forward:

Ronnie Ekelund (free transfer): Ekelund, another Dane, was awesome. He spent four years in MLS and I'd say for three of them he was one of the two best central midfielders in the league (and also, on every broadcast it seemed to be a requirement that somebody mention he'd played for Cruyff's Barcelona... exactly once). The Quakes won two MLS Cups with him in the middle as the game-conduction No. 8.

John Spencer (free transfer): Spencer, the diminutive Scottish forward (sometimes a second forward, sometimes a center forward), arrived in 2001, stayed four years and was twice named Best XI. His numbers weren't eye-popping, but for those first three years he was definitely one of the best forwards in the league and won the Rapids some games they otherwise should've lost.

Carlos Ruiz (free transfer): You could legitimately argue that Ruiz's 2002 – his debut season – is the best individual performance in league history. He scored 24 of LA's 44 goals (which led the league) in leading them to the Shield, and then scored eight of their 15 goals in the playoffs, including the winner in their 1-0 MLS Cup triumph over the Revs in New England. That is a higher percentage of his team's total goals, both regular season and playoffs, than what Vela did last year or Josef in 2018.

And Pescadito's magic was necessary. The Galaxy at that point were the team that always had a great regular season and always choked in the playoffs. He was monumental.

He followed it up by tying for the league lead in goals again in 2003, and scoring 89 total regular-season goals in an MLS career that took him to five different cities, including two stops each with the Galaxy and FC Dallas.

His last MLS goal came more than 14 years after his first, in his one and only appearance in his second tour with Dallas. This was the second-to-last game of the season with the Shield on the line:

Not even kidding: that is his only MLS goal since 2011, and it basically won Dallas a piece of major hardware.

On top of all of the above, he is still arguably the greatest villain in league history. You know how the Orlando City fanbase feels about Josef? That's how every fanbase felt about Ruiz. Pescadito forever!

Amado Guevara (free transfer): Amado arrived early in the 2003 season for the MetroStars and was their focal point as they went to their first-ever Cup final that year, eventually losing the U.S. Open Cup by 1-0 at home to the Fire in front of maybe 3,000 miserable fans (yes, I was one of them). The No. 10 won league MVP in 2004 with a 10g/10a year, which should tell you quite a bit about what 2004 in MLS was like.

Christian Gomez (nominal fee): Gomez, the Argie No. 10 forerunner to guys like Javier Morales and Diego Valeri, arrived late in 2004 and became D.C.'s best player, leading them to their fourth MLS Cup that season. Then he was Best XI in 2005, then he was Best XI, MVP and the best player on their Shield-winning team in 2006, and was arguably their best player on another Sheild-winning team in 2007. He spent 2008 in Colorado before coming back to D.C. at the age of 34 for one last pretty meh season as United spiraled downward.

The wild thing is that he went on to play another 10 years for Nueva Chicago, and only retired last summer. Anyway, Gomez is largely and wrongly forgotten today, but is actually one of the best signings in league history.

Luciano Emilio (nominal fee): Emilio, a Brazilian center forward, showed up in 2007 for the last of those great, Gomez-led teams, scored 20 goals with 10 assists, won MVP and the Shield, and then followed it up with two more double-digit seasons before hitting the wall in 2010.

Juan Pablo Angel (free transfer): The other big, South American center forward who arrived in 2007 did so with more fanfare. JPA was one of the league's original DPs and largely played like it, scoring double-digit goals for five straight seasons – the first four with RBNY, with his peak production of 19g/5a coming in just 24 games in his first year – before hitting the wall in 2011.

Javier Morales (nominal fee): "The Team is the Star" was a nice, catchy slogan, and evocative of what RSL justifiably wanted to be known for. But the truth is that Javi was the star, putting in five separate Best XI-caliber seasons between 2008 and 2015, and just in general being one of the most visionary chance creators this league's ever seen. He was also the first of them to come in his prime, arriving at age 27.

Morales won an MLS Cup (though he was injured early in that game and thus wasn't on the field for most of it), was the best player on a team that almost won CCL, and almost won two Shields, and almost won another MLS Cup and almost won a U.S. Open Cup. He also fought through a devastating injury and remained effective well into his mid-30s.

All those "almosts" don't matter, though. I love Javi Mo, the long-time centerpiece of one of the most stylish teams in league history, and so should you. And also, guys like Valeri and Federico Higuain have spoken repeatedly about how important Morales was in terms of opening the Argie pipeline.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto (nominal fee): Another magical Argie No. 10 who had a lot to do with opening up that pipeline, Schelotto had a much higher profile than Morales or Gomez, having played 300 games for Boca Juniors (often as their super-sub) in the previous decade, which followed nearly 200 games for Gimnasia in the early-mid '90s. He was 34 when he got to MLS, but was far from washed up as he earned two Best XIs, an MVP, and led the Crew to the Shield/Cup double (2008) and another Shield (2009).

One thing to note that separates Schelotto somewhat: His 2008 MLS Cup performance is as good an individual performance as that game's ever seen.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco (nominal fee): I'm going to get in trouble with my colleague Calen Carr if I downplay the Blanco effect. I'll just say that he was the second-biggest name signing of the original DP class behind the next guy, and had some moments that showed why:



I will add this: The Fire haven't been much good since he left, and they've certainly never replaced the off-field juice he generated.

David Beckham (free transfer): You've probably heard of this guy. And I've gotta tell you, the first two years in MLS were not that promising. But things clicked in 2009, and over the next four years the Galaxy won two MLS Cups and two Shields, and finished runners-up in both in 2009. Beckham battled injuries and availability issues for chunks of that, but absolutely deserved his Best XI spot in 2011 and was much, much more than just an off-the-field signing.

I'm still not convinced that he was the best or biggest or most important signing in league history, but I understand those who are. At the time, Beckham was the one soccer player the average sports fan knew, and it's definitely not a coincidence that MLS's expansion pace skyrocketed shortly after his arrival.

Fabian Espindola (super-complex inbound loan): How much differently would we feel about Fabi if he hadn't hit the post 35 damn times and finished just one of his chances against Monterrey in the second leg of that epic 2011 Concacaf Champions League final? Probably a lot. Regardless, he was mostly a pretty good, very energetic second forward throughout his MLS career, which had six years and an MLS Cup with RSL, one year and a Shield with the Red Bulls, three up-and-down years with D.C. United, and no shortage of legendary off-the-field and in-the-locker room incidents. 73g/44a across all competitions for nearly a decade with those three MLS clubs.

Wilman Conde (nominal fee): A big, ball-playing Colombian CB/MF with a very nice left foot, Conde's rights were the subject of some wrangling between the Red Bulls and the Fire. He wound up with the latter in 2007 and was Best XI in 2009, but his career was ultimately derailed by injuries after a move to Atlas of Liga MX in 2011. Still, he had three-and-a-half mostly excellent years in the Windy City.

Jamison Olave (nominal fee): Olave spent nine years in MLS, seven of them with RSL, and I'd argue that he was the best CB in the league for three of those seasons. He won Defender of the Year once, in 2010 for the best by-the-numbers defense in league history, and was Best XI again in 2011. He was the best player on the field in the 2009 MLS Cup, which RSL won, and was the best defender on the team for the Red Bulls in 2013 when they finally won a title, taking home the Shield.

I don't think there's been a better international defender signing in league history.

David Ferreira (nominal fee): Another South American No. 10! Ferreira, whose son Jesus is part of the USMNT player pool, spent five years in Dallas, beginning in 2009. He won the league MVP and led Dallas to an MLS Cup appearance in 2010, and like Gomez, only retired from the game last summer. He was also like Gomez in that he wasn't a game-controlling No. 10, but rather a guy who would drift around to find the gaps and then break it open.

Leonardo Gonzalez (nominal fee): How many non-Sounders fans remember Gonzalez? Probably not a lot, but he was one of the league's best fullbacks from the time of his arrival in 2009 right through the 2014 season, winning four U.S. Open Cups and a Shield with Seattle. Really good signing.

2010s

Alvaro Saborio (nominal fee): The big Costa Rican No. 9 got to RSL in 2010 at age 28 – he was Newcomer of the Year – and was their go-to target man for most of the next five years, putting together his best year in 2012 and scoring a very well-taken goal in the 2013 MLS Cup. He was never Best XI and never officially won a title with RSL, but his 73 goals in 11,552 regular-season minutes gives him a similar goals/90 rate as guys like Ruiz and RDA despite coming into the league at its lowest-scoring point.

Just because RSL never did win a title with Sabo as their No. 9 doesn't mean you couldn't win a title with Sabo as your No. 9.

Thierry Henry (free): Thierry Henry is the coolest soccer player of all time, and nobody ever has made being so big and moving so fast look so easy. The stories from training are legendary, as are the stories of his generosity, as are the stories of how he'd test his teammates off the field. He was a giant off the pitch in terms of how he shaped the way RBNY did business, and on the field he scored what remains the biggest goal in team history:



This was it. This was the Red Bulls choking away another shot at a trophy, at home, in front of their fans. Somehow they were down 1-0 inside 20 minutes with the Shield on the line. Henry, who came to MLS at age 33, pulled them back into it and then ran the show for the rest of the game.

He made Best XI in 2011 & 2012 as a forward, then again in 2014 as a midfielder, and lived up to that DP tag the whole time.

Mauro Rosales (free): Rosales, a playmaking right winger and one of the best crossers of the ball this league has ever seen, was Newcomer of the Year with Seattle in 2011, and also U.S. Open Cup champion that year. He continued being pretty good for a few more years, picked up a Canadian Championship for Vancouver in 2015 and a Shield/U.S. Open Cup double as an off-the-bench playmaker for FC Dallas in 2016, and had a very respectable if not particularly memorable 11,000 minutes in MLS before retiring after the 2017 season.

Aurelien Collin (free): Collin was the necessary piece for a Sporting team had been collecting young assets but lacked a monstrous, throw-back SOB in central defense to tie the room together. He arrived in 2011 and arguably should've been Newcomer of the Year over Rosales, and a year later was Best XI as well as a U.S. Open Cup champion. A year after that he was certainly the most eye-catching player on the field in Sporting's MLS Cup win.

He's fallen off hard since 2016, but his first four years in the league were massive and each of his first six years were quality.

Marcelo Sarvas (nominal fee): Yup, Sarvas belongs here. Bruce Arena spotted the battling, box-to-box destroyer in a CCL game for Alajuelense, said "I like that guy," and brought him to LA for three years. In 2012 he was part of the rotation, but in 2013 and 2014 he was a full-time starter, putting in what I felt was a Best XI-caliber season for what is probably the best Galaxy team of all-time. He also had a VERY good 2016 for D.C. before hitting the wall in 2017.

Felipe (nominal fee): The ultimate irritant. Felipe was Montreal's No. 10 when he came to MLS as a 21-year-old back in 2012, playing for Jesse Marsch. He spent three years there, winning two Canadian Championships, and then moved to RBNY for three years, again under Marsch, winning a Shield but playing more as a No. 8 or even sometimes as a No. 6. He's been a solid if not spectacular player for most of a decade, and is one of the most unrepentant divers and agitators the league has ever seen.

When he eventually retires, there, uh, won't be a lot of testimonials from his colleagues.

Victor Bernardez (nominal fee): Bernardez arrived early in the 2012 season and immediately fit in, both on the field and culturally, with the Goonies – one of the most memorable Shield-winners in MLS history. He was Best XI that year at CB. San Jose made playoffs just one other time in his six years amidst constant coaching turmoil, and despite the magic of the Goonies and the greatness of Chris Wondolowski, the 2010s have to go down as a lost decade. That wasn't big Vic's fault.

He shouldn't have taken so many free kicks, though. The man launched a lot of souvenirs into the crowd.

Marco Di Vaio (free): The Italian veteran poacher came to Montreal, lived offside for about 6000 minutes (he was flagged 151 times in 76 games, which is hilarious), scored 34 goals – including a 20-goal, Best XI season in 2013 – and then hung 'em up. Across all competitions it was 40g/14a in 6700 minutes. The Impact didn't win anything with Di Vaio* but he was a very good center forward and produced very respectable returns for an expansion team. He was a good signing.

(*)That was wrong, and thanks to Daniel for the edit: The Impact won the 2014 Canadian Championship, which Di Vaio was a part of. That led to the legendary 2015 CCL run. Thanks, Daniel!

Boniek Garcia (undisclosed fee): This might be the wrong bucket – I think the Dynamo paid a pretty decent fee for Boniek. The Honduran international came to Houston as something of a wide midfielder, but also a playmaker, and now he's kind of a No. 8 who does some of the work of a No. 6 and also of a No. 10. He played in the 2012 MLS Cup, and won the 2017 U.S. Open Cup, and is approaching 250 games across all competitions for the Dynamo. More importantly, these are his children:

The Boniek Twins alone make him a legendary signing.

Federico Higuain ($650k inbound): It took Columbus two-and-a-half years to find Schelotto's replacement. Naturally they looked back to Argentina, which was obviously the right thing to do. Pipa arrived in mid-2012 at age 27 and basically ran the show for eight straight seasons, interrupted only here and there by injuries. He produced 59 goals and 70 assists for Columbus across all competitions, and is one of the cleverest players I've ever seen take the field in an MLS game. While he never won a trophy or was Best XI for the Crew, he was consistently excellent.

Lloyd Sam (free): Sam cost nothing but delivered quite a bit from the wing, first as a super-sub for the 2013 Shield-winning RBNY team, and then as a full-time starter for the 2015, "press everything" Jesse Marsch side. He was also a part of that gorgeous and glorious late-2016 surge by D.C. United, when the climbed from the basement to the playoffs by scoring three goals a game for the season's final three months. That coincided with Sam's arrival. In all he registered 30g/37a for the two MLS clubs in about 11,700 minutes across all competitions.

Diego Valeri (complex inbound loan): No, we don't know the actual numbers for Valeri's eventual transfer so there's a chance he should be in a different group. But there's little doubt that he was one of the best and most defining players of the 2010s, and began his MLS career with a memorable goal against the eventual Shield champions:

He's been an MVP and a three-time Best XI. He suffered an ACL tear late in 2014, but once he got healthy late in the 2015 season he (as well as a formational adjustment) became key to the Timbers' surge to that year's MLS Cup.

My sincere hope is that I get to write about him for three more years, and one day get to talk about how he's joined Landon Donovan and Jaime Moreno in the 100g/100a club.

Bradley Wright-Phillips (free transfer): BWP wasn't just a free transfer, he came to the Red Bulls as a trialist. And at first it didn't look so great as he scored just 1g with 1a in 7 regular season appearances, and what was RBNY doing taking on a 28-year-old never-was who never would be? BWP scored 107 more times in the regular season since that 2013 debut, earning two Golden Boots and two Best XIs as well as three Shields. He also became the first player in MLS history with three 20+ goal seasons. All told he scored 126 goals and added 31 assists across all competitions in 18,500 minutes for RBNY. Not bad for a trialist!

Liam Ridgewell (free transfer): Ridgewell arrived midway through the 2014 season, was an instant All-Star, and had five pretty good years for Portland with a revolving cast of center back partners. That included 2015's MLS Cup win, which was easily his best and most complete season. He was also steady during the 2018 run through the Western Conference playoffs as the Timbers, game after game, held on by a thread.

Ignacio Piatti (free transfer): 79 goals and 43 assists in just under 14,000 career minutes for the Impact. Two Best XIs – should've been three, to be honest – and a Canadian Championship. Montreal were always so busy changing everything every single year that there was never any established consistency around Nacho, who is one of the most entertaining, electric players in league history. He was a "yes, I'll pay money to watch this guy" attraction basically every week. Both times they got to the playoffs during his stay he delivered, with 5g/3a in eight games.

The fact that he is rightly regarded as one of the best wingers in league history despite the relative lack of team success is a hint toward the type of talent he was.

Kendall Waston (nominal fee): Waston is just like Collin: a giant, physical center back who plays a throwback style. He was just what the 'Caps needed when he arrived in mid-2014, and has made two Best XIs and won a Canadian Championship. I'd say he was almost certainly the best player for two of the three 'Caps playoff sides.

David Villa (free transfer): Four years of sustained, unimpeachable excellence from the Spanish No. 9, including back-to-back 20+ goal seasons, the first one of which (2016) was an MVP year. He arrived at age 33 and put 80g/26a in 10,500 minutes across all competitions, and was the face of the club for each of them. And for three of those seasons, the Cityzens were an elite MLS team that were serious contenders for silverware (though obviously they're still looking for their first piece). Here, have a goals comp from 2017:



If it wasn't for Josef, Villa would have an argument for the best four-year run of any center forward in league history.

Laurent Ciman (nominal fee): Ciman's arrival seemed to signal that a new, glorious era was dawning for the Impact, and the Belgian World Cup veteran lived up to his billing with a Best XI and Defender of the Year-caliber debut season, as well as a trip to the CCL final. The next year, 2016, he wasn't quite as good, but was a big part of Montreal making it to the Eastern Conference final (where they got murked by Jozy Altidore, but hey, so it goes). He fell off hard in his third year in Montreal, ended up as LAFC's inaugural captain in his fourth year before being sold, mid-season, to a French club, then somehow ended up back in Toronto as a back-up last season.

The daring, risk-taking, on-the-edge defending that made him so good in 2015 & 16 made him into a liability as he aged, but it's not a coincidence that Montreal's best run as an MLS club came when they had a top-tier CB anchoring things, which is what Ciman was for two seasons.

Michael Barrios (nominal fee): Barrios was an entirely unknown 24-year-old when he arrived from a small Colombian side in early 2015, and is now entering his sixth season as an every-game starter for what's usually been a playoff-caliber FC Dallas side. He has 36 goals and 45 assists in just about 15,000 minutes across all competitions on the wing, and was a full-time starter on the 2016 Dallas side that won the Shield/U.S. Open Cup double.

Harrison Afful (free): He was one of the two best RBs in the league over the second half of the 2010s, and I don't think that Gregg Berhalter's system really clicked until Afful arrived in mid-2015, at which point Columbus repeatedly advanced into the attacking third with incredible ease. Afful's a truly modern fullback in that he could (and does) get forward to provide great service very regularly, but also because he focuses as a true possession hub.

Mauro Manotas (nominal fee): Houston got Manotas for pennies from Uniautonoma FC of Colombia, the same team as Barrios, when he was an unknown 19-year-old, and as of now he's just five goals away from passing Brian Ching as the club's all-time leader. That includes a masterful performance in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup final, Houston's only trophy in recent times. I'm surprised Manotas is still in Houston. Somebody out there needs a No. 9 and is going to be willing to pay for it.

Daniel Royer (nominal fee): The Austrian winger is somehow already in his fifth year with the Red Bulls, and has been a reliable part of their pressing ways on both sides of the ball, including during their Shield-winning 2018 season. He's never going to win a Best XI nomination, but he's been a much more consistent and productive player than a lot of bigger names who've come to this league. And he's done it for a team that competes.

Haris Medunjanin (nominal fee): Maybe this is what Kubik would've been if he played in the modern game? Medunjanin, who can not run, arrived in 2017, planted himself in front of Philly's center backs, and just sprayed for three straight years. He is a glorious and gorgeous passer of the ball, and one of the most deceptive players I think I've ever seen in this league.

Alex Ring ($330k inbound): I had my doubts about Ring when he arrived before the 2017 season, but he's been one of the league's three best defensive midfielders each of the subsequent three seasons, so consider those doubts unfounded. Ring does everything you want out of the position, and also has the ability to get forward a bit when he's played as a No. 8. Two more seasons like the ones he's just had, as well as a piece of silverware or two, and he might be getting italicized in the next version of this column. For those of you who don't like to regularly watch NYCFC: You should tune in every now and again and watch this guy work.

Gustav Svensson (free): Svensson, who's four years older than Ring, arrived ahead of the same season, and (mostly) plays the same position, and is much less flashy. Except when he's handing out amazing quotes:

Gustav Svensson on his role tactically in the Sounders system: “I have to pick up all the horseshit and pretty much cover wherever they’re not, but, I mean I’ve been doing that my whole life.” — Ari Liljenwall (@AriLiljenwall) March 5, 2019

Ozzie Alonso is the best d-mid in MLS history. How do you replace the best d-mid in MLS history and win MLS Cup? By having Gustav Svensson on your team. He's been unsung outside Seattle, and given his age (33) he's unlikely to have a long enough career to move too far up this list when it's all said and done. But the Sounders will have a Hall of Fame or a Ring of Honor or something like that, and Svensson will be prominently featured.

He's never won Best XI but for what it's worth, I had him as my first-team all-MLS starting d-mid last year.

Ilie Sanchez (free): Another out of the Barca-to-KC pipeline, Ilie was great when he arrived in 2017, and even greater for a truly excellent Sporting team in 2018 before taking a big step backwards (as did everyone else on the roster, to be fair), in 2019. No titles yet and no Best XIs, but he's easily one of the best tempo-setting d-mids in the league and my guess is he's going to have his third strong season out of four. Given his playing style, it's not unhinged to expect really good, 2500-minute seasons out of him until he's 33 or 34 years old.

Kelvin Leerdam (free): Two-and-a-half seasons is enough when you've spent literally all of that time as one of the very best fullbacks in the league. When the Sounders were flying at the start of last year, pushing forward and getting into seven guys around and into the box time and again, Leerdam was amazing. When they lost a lot of their mojo after Chad Marshall got hurt and retired, and had to play much more conservatively, he was very good.

I thought making him a TAM player was an overpay. But considering he was free, and putting him just above the max salary threshold allowed Garth Lagerwey to do some cap gymnastics, and given that he's probably lived up to that TAM deal regardless... he's been a fantastic signing.

Eduard Atuesta (complex inbound loan): Yeah, I gave Svensson that spot over Atuesta, who saved his worst game of the season for that home playoff match against the Sounders. I'm not a fan of ringzzzzz culture but the big moments matter more. It was a harsh lesson for the kid. That said, the 22-year-old Atuesta has been so, so good in his two years, winning Best XI and the Shield last year, that I had to include him (one of the few two-year players getting that nod). The thing is, though, the next time I do this column, he'll likely be in a different Tier – the one for players sold on for substantial fees. And at that point, he's getting italics.

Zlatan (free): He's freaking Zlatan:

Dude gave us our KPIs for two straight years and carried the Galaxy from Wooden Spoon territory to mediocrity while scoring some of the wildest goals the league's ever seen. And lots of them!

Expensive Transfer Move That Brings Trophies/Quality

Sometimes you pay, and sometimes it's worth it.

1990s

Carlos Valderrama (hard to say, but he definitely wasn't free!): The original MVP, the key to the original Shield winners, a true one-man show for a great team in a way that nobody else in MLS history has quite managed. Pibe was the biggest name to come to MLS in 1996, and you could argue that in terms of "World Icon" status, he's still one of the five biggest names to come to this league. You can't really play like he plays anymore, but I don't care. One MVP, one Shield, three Best XIs and an unfathomable number of through-balls.

Marco Etcheverry (hard to say, but he definitely wasn't free!): Diablo was 25 and two years removed from finishing top three in Conmebol Player of the Year voting. He had a great mullet, a famous red card in the World Cup, and a marketable, volatile personality. For those of you who were not around then, or do not remember: From a personality perspective and a stature in the city's sporting community perspective, Etcheverry was roughly at the same level for D.C. in the late '90s as Sebastian Giovinco was for Toronto in the mid-2010s. Three MLS Cups, two Shields, an Open Cup, a Concacaf Champions Cup, a Copa Interamericana, a league MVP, two goals of the year and four Best XIs in the first four years.

They won a double of some sort literally every year from 1996-through-1999. Diablo was the blueprint for what MLS teams should've been looking for this entire time. He was the best player on the league's best dynasty.

Jaime Moreno (hard to say, but he definitely wasn't free!): Or actually, maybe Jaime was! They didn't really start plowing teams in '96 until the 22-year-old Moreno got there, after all. Moreno, a smooth and multi-faceted No. 9, is the only man besides Landon Donovan with more than 100 goals and 100 assists, and unlike Diablo he stuck around long enough to play a part in D.C.'s second great run. He joined with Gomez from 2004 through 2007 as they won another MLS Cup, two Shields and a U.S. Open Cup. United have 13 major (my definition) trophies, and Jaime took part in 12 of them. He had seven double-digit goals seasons, and five double-digit assist years. He was Best XI five times.

For those of you who never saw him play: Heber, but got to the league six years younger.

2010s

Diego Chara ($1.9m inbound): Yeah, you're seeing that right – there's a huge gap in time here. Chara missed being an original MLS Timber by about a month, arriving in April of 2011 and winning every loose ball in midfield since then. Everyone who's watched Portland over the past decade knows exactly why Chara is here – he shrinks the field and makes it miserable to play against him. And despite logging nearly 25,000 minutes across all competitions since then, there's been no signs of slowing down. He's only won one trophy (2015 MLS Cup), and never been Best XI, but that's because the voters have always been terrible about giving d-mids their due.

Robbie Keane ($4.1m inbound): The Galaxy that we all think of as "the Galaxy" are that 2011-through-2014 bunch, the team that won three MLS Cups in four years and became what they became because of Keane, who arrived at age 31. He assisted on the game-winner in the 2011 MLS Cup, scored the final goal in the 2012 MLS Cup, and scored the game-winner in the 2014 MLS Cup. He was Best XI four straight seasons, and won the MVP award in the last of those. The man scored some bangers: