EDITOR'S NOTE: Before you know it, February 29 will be here. That's the kickoff to the 25th season in Major League Soccer history and we're getting you ready for the 2020 campaign with the stories, personalities and questions that will leave their mark on the season to come.

Every MLS season invariably has a central theme that winds up defining it. With 25 days remaining until the 25th season, here are three that appear to be in the ascendancy as we count down to kickoff on Feb. 29…

For the better part of two decades, MLS fans and front offices looked south with envy and respect at Liga MX as that competition’s clubs dominated Concacaf Champions League and its predecessor, Champions Cup, while drawing big crowds, TV audiences and interest on this side of the border.

For some this was a problem to be solved, an adversary to overcome. After all, how could MLS reach its goal of becoming a leading global league if it wasn’t even the king of the hill on its own continent? But the picture has grown far more nuanced over the past few years.

Traffic between MLS and Liga MX has picked up noticeably of late, not only in terms of player movement – which hit new heights this winter as names like Alan Pulido, Lucas Zelarayan and Edison Flores moved north on big Designated Player deals – but also partnerships between the two organizations, embodied by the new Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup competitions and even chatter about an outright merger someday. (The recent deep dive by ESPN’s Tom Marshall is required reading here.)

In on-field terms, MLS still needs one of its teams to win the Concacaf Champions League for the first time to truly have a claim to being on anything like level terms with Liga MX, where across-the-board spending remains higher, especially among the elite clubs. But the recent spate of inbound transfers is a shot in the arm for the younger league, and another sign of the gap closing.

The league goes international