With an incredibly high bar to clear before becoming the destination for top players, becoming a “selling league” is the fate for most soccer competitions around the globe. That’s no bad thing; transfer fees for young prospects and established stars alike are the lifeblood for many clubs.
Increasingly, the USL Championship is benefiting from its own ascendant selling league status.
Just last week, Manny Perez of Louisville City was sold to AC Horsens in Denmark, marking another step in that direction. Perez joined Celtic in Scotland after college and made some MLS appearances with Austin FC before breaking out with Louisville in 2022. Once a U.S. youth national team prospect, Perez used the USL as a springboard to pursue higher aspirations abroad.
With the Perez precedent in mind, who in the USL is the likeliest to earn European interest?
Danny Trejo, FW, Phoenix Rising
17 regular season goals, an all-league nod, and one championship ring later, Danny Trejo is at the top of the USL world after 2023.
