A giant is rising in the east, intent on disrupting world football’s consensus. The Chinese Super League, with its many cash-rich clubs owned by various billionaires, has been rampaging through recent transfer windows, prying away star players from the old guard in Europe.

And it’s happened quickly: Oscar, Axel Witsel, John Obi Mikel, Carlos Tevez, Ramires, Alex Teixeira, Jackson Martinez and others have moved to China recently for outlandish transfer fees, many of which have dwarfed the financial standards set in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.

If you’re a Juventus or Manchester United supporter, the rumblings from China are chilling. Given the Super League’s state backing – Chinese president Xi Jinping is a noted soccer fan, whose ambition to see his country lift the World Cup involves a scrupulous 50-point plan and almost limitless financial resources – is there anything to stop the Chinese juggernaut?

All this means Major League Soccer should have cause for alarm. At first blush, MLS seems to exist in its own realm, a world apart from China, tucked away in its own universe. But soccer is a global industry, after all, and disruption in one part of the world has a ripple effect in others.

In recent years, MLS has banked on the signings of ageing superstars to lend the league an air of credibility as it expands to new markets. David Beckham joined the LA Galaxy in 2007, followed by the New York Red Bulls’ acquisition of Thierry Henry from Barcelona in 2010. This snowballed into a kind of marketing strategy for the league, making it the ideal arrangement for a European icon to comfortably live out the twilight of his career.

But these signings are expensive, and they haven’t always translated to dominance on the pitch. One needn’t look further than Didier Drogba’s foundering spell in Montreal, or Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard’s brief sojourns in LA and New York, to see why. In fact, as China snaffles top-caliber players like the 25-year-old Oscar, and even flirts with Cristiano Ronaldo, MLS is spending the majority of its time in the transfer market buying old guys who can’t carry the league into world football’s upper echelons.

If the appeal of an ageing Andrea Pirlo isn’t enough of an indication, a transfer data analysis from Fifa TMS reported last year states: “Despite MLS’s growing appeal, a large number of its top players are still moving there only towards the end of their career.”

On the positive side, China’s dominance raises the prospect of MLS eschewing vainglorious signings in favor of homegrown players. But in order to compete with President Xi’s 50-point plan, which entails 50,000 Chinese schools participating in the nation’s soccer scheme by 2025, the United States needs some kind of directive.

The US isn’t currently at a disadvantage in terms of development: MLS spent a total of $40m on youth development in 2015, while spending just $25.6m on player transfers, according to Fifa TMS. The investment speaks to what MLS might see as its greatest asset if it wants to become one of world’s top leagues. As former US national team defender Heath Pearce told ESPN last year: “The biggest opportunity [to catch up] is in the youth development. That’s the one area that is reaching a pivotal moment. The youth movement is the next step,” he said.

MLS, which now has an academy system for each of its 22 teams, and the USA Soccer Development Academy, declined to comment for this story.

Chris Reiko, a journalist who’s covered MLS since its debut, thinks American soccer might not necessarily be saved by its youngsters, but says MLS can survive because of its frugality.

“When you look at the long term, MLS will only benefit from [the Chinese Super League], because it has over 20 years of perspective,” he says. “In terms of financial discipline and money management, MLS is one of the best leagues in the world.”

Reiko points to the Chinese Super League’s tendency to lavish millions upon some players who won’t yield much of a return. Carlos Tevez is a prime example: he’s reportedly earning more than $750,000 a week playing for Shanghai Shenhua. Shanghai spent upwards of $85m acquiring the forward, who at one time mulled a transfer to the United States. What will his team be able to recoup once Tevez’s two-year deal expires?

The limited financial power of MLS has never invited the world’s best talent. Lampard and Gerrard, each now gone after middling tenures with New York City FC and the LA Galaxy, were the league’s highest earners last year with $6m salaries. By contrast, Oscar, who spurned limited playing time at Chelsea in favor of Shanghai SIPG, will reportedly earn about $320,000 a week at his new club – a figure most MLS clubs couldn’t even fathom.

With this in mind, it’s no wonder that lots of MLS fans are already debating whether the Super League has outstripped the American game in terms of quality, and if it will continue to do so.

But one thing is clear: MLS is expanding, in spite of the threat from China. The league’s newest franchise, Atlanta United FC, begins its inaugural season this year, showing that the league is working well towards its ultimate ambition of achieving 28 teams across North America. The Chinese Super League, meanwhile, is pumping the brakes on its acquisitions of foreign players after a government official accused many clubs of “burning money.”

The Chinese Super League might be on the cusp of an enormous financial bubble. In total, Chinese clubs spent $300m on foreign players last year. As Reiko says: “The way they do their current business, I think [the Chinese Super League] wants lots of attention to sign some players, but I don’t see any long term sustainability for that.”

And given how MLS has grown – slowly but steadily since 1995 – it might stay isolated and inoculated from China, after all.