League of opportunity: Aaron Long, Diego Luna among top players who have used USL as a springboard to the elite - and others are sure to follow

There is history here. The USL, for a long time, was considered the awkward little brother to Major League Soccer. It operated in roughly the same ecosystem but was a level below. It was where you went if you were happy to pick up a paycheck and play professional soccer - or were clearly a step below the top level of soccer in the United States.

There are hundreds of players who arrived in the league as college graduates and fizzled out, and a fair few European legends who played out their final years there: Joe Cole, Didier Drogba, and Shaun Wright-Phillips all enjoyed their final farewells in USL.

But there are an increasing number of players who consider the USL more than just a reliable spot to play football. For some, it’s a valuable stepping stone to some of the upper reaches of the game.

Such is the case for Aaron Long. Now captain of LAFC and a seasoned MLS veteran, he played for a handful of different USL franchises before signing a permanent deal with New York Red Bulls in 2017.

Coming out of college, he had a few options. The Portland Timbers drafted him with the 34th overall pick in 2013, and reluctant to play reserve football, Long accepted a USL offer.

“It was a place for players who didn't get drafted to try to prove that they were good enough to make it. That was the way I took it,” Long told GOAL. For him, the minutes were most important. He needed reps, especially as a central defender. There was also the appeal of cutting his teeth against veteran players, when he was still in his early 20s.

“You can't just go there and f*ck around, like there's a seriousness to it,” Long said. “Guys want to win. You're playing against older men a lot of times. There are 30 year olds, 31 year olds… it was my first time playing against men. That was a step up physically as well.”

And for Long it worked a charm. In 2017, he tried out - yes, tried out - for RBNY, worked his way into the XI, and now wears the armband for a perennial MLS Cup favorite in L.A. And he’ll tell you that USL has been a crucial part of his journey.

The same goes for Diego Luna, albeit in a different way.

The USMNT attacking midfielder - recently given his first call-up to a competitive round of fixtures for the national team - was at something of a crossroads. He had established himself as a real talent in the Barcelona Academy in Arizona. MLS beckoned at some point - but his path wasn’t clear. He was involved in the San Jose Academy setup but wasn’t highly regarded. He chose to test himself in USL, and pick up valuable minutes as a young player at a higher level than college - or even an MLS reserve team - might be able to offer.

“It was a big jump. At the time I was a teenager who had only played with academy guys. It was difficult,” Luna admitted.

And there were physical challenges. He was shorter, slower, and less athletic than a lot of his opponents. He struggled when he didn’t have the ball, was shoved into the wrong areas, and was blocked off by defenders. The little pockets of space he had thrived in at a youth level closed far quicker - or didn’t appear at all.

But he soon realized that he was a level above when the ball was at his feet.

“You learn how to be smarter, be quicker with the ball, and understand that you might not beat them in a run, or body-to-body - but it helped me develop a better soccer IQ,” he said.

There was a sense that he wasn’t long for the league. Luna was too quick, too effective, and too promising to stick around. He knew that he needed to test himself at the next level. For the attacking midfielder, it became a case of choosing the right moment to go.

MLS interest had been apparent for a number of months before he chose to join Real Salt Lake in June 2022. There was at least one more offer at the time, but that unnamed club couldn’t guarantee a path to the first team that Luna craved.

“I’m not going to be stuck on this second team, I wanted to be getting an opportunity with the first team. When RSL came in, they laid out a plan for me. Everything seemed right, and it was the right decision at the time,” he said.

More recently, USL has proved to be a platform. There were years in which USL was a final destination for European exports. There were countless players who spent their years bouncing around second division clubs across the pond - or maybe had some top-level experience - before playing out their final season or two in the United States.

Some Americans are starting to buck that trend.

Nick Markanich wasn’t supposed to be the best Markanich twin. His brother, Anthony, was drafted 26th overall in 2021, and, after signing with the Colorado Rapids, established himself as a fringe MLS player. Nick, meanwhile, was released by FC Cincinnati and ended up at Charleston Battery.

But a footballer who seemed to have fallen through the cracks found a home in USL. He needed to try out - yes, athletes still do that - but established himself as a regular for Charleston in 2023. He might have left at the end of that campaign, but elected to stick around.

And it paid dividends. Markanich was prolific in 2024, breaking the USL single season goalscoring record, and earning himself a move to Spanish side Castellon in the process. Oliver Wyss, Head of Global Football Development and Sporting Director, described the six-figure fee for his acquisition as a watershed moment for the USL.

“The player deserved the move," Wyss said. "The club deserved the transfer, and I hope we will have many more of these."

He’s not alone - especially among young talents. Jonathan Gomez moved from Louisville City to Real Sociedad in 2021. Kobi Henry went from Orange County SC to Reims in June 2022. Joshua Wynder, Korede Osundina and Milan Iloski have all done the same - and are now playing for European clubs.

And then, there all the other names in MLS. Kevin Molino won the USL Championship MVP twice and went on to have a 12-year MLS career (one in which he won an MLS Cup in 2023.) Daniel Steres, now of the Houston Dynamo, started his career in USL and has more than 200 MLS appearances. John McCarthy was the 2014 USL Goalkeeper of the year and eight years later he made two saves in the MLS Cup final penalty shootout to lift LAFC to a championship.

And so we return to Zelalem, he of YouTube fame. Europe wasn’t necessarily the kindest to him, the midfielder playing for five clubs- with stints at Sportking KC and NYCFC sprinkled between.

There were other options, he admitted. But New Mexico guaranteed the playing time he craved. Zelalem is 28. He has plenty of football left and has every right to want to maximize it.

And he has a pathway. New Mexico United offers a chance to not only kickstart his journeyman career but also play at a high level. For someone who has never quite found the right fit, USL might be the perfect place to keep his ambitions alive - and prove himself worthy of another shot.

“It’s just a very good environment overall. I know we have a lot of good players, so the competition is high, which is good,” Zelalem said. “It will drive everyone forward.”