Alphonso Davies, Ricardo Pepi, Tyler Adams, and the best MLS homegrown talents to transfer abroad

Well, Araujo hasn't exactly become a superstar. It's debatable whether he ever really could be. But after a few good seasons for an admittedly pretty bad LA Galaxy side, his club cashed in for a tidy $4m to send the full back to Europe. In a vacuum, it made some sense. The money, plus a reported sell-on clause, could only help a Galaxy side that wasn't really going anywhere.

Araujo, of course, jumped at the opportunity, and is now a fringe player for Bournemouth after signing a five-year deal last summer. Perhaps manager Andoni Iraola sees a future for him there. Maybe he should have made his Las Palmas loan deal permanent in 2023. Either way, at 23, there's a lot of football left to be played.

Slonina was certainly a talent when free-spending Chelsea snapped him up in 2022. But it also seemed an odd deal at the time. Slonina needed to develop, and MLS was a good forum for him to do so. Still, eight figures proved an offer too good to turn down for the Fire at the time - a new transfer record for the club.

For Slonina, things have been admittedly mixed. He has yet to make a first team appearance, while a disappointing loan move to Barnsley fell apart in late December. He will now be in search of a new club, where his career can get back on track.

Atlanta must have been laughing. Sure, they lost three top talents in the summer of 2024, but they also made massive profits, made MLS playoffs, before springing one of the great upsets in league history by beating Inter Miami in the first round.

Wiley, although he doesn't have the appeal of Thiago Almada, might have actually been the best of the three. A high-potential left back on the fringes of the USMNT, he shouldn't be too far away from playing in England's top flight. He excelled at the Oympics, and although a shoulder operation has derailed his progress, a promising start at Strasbourg showed his potential. Watch this space.

Surely, Dallas could have gotten more out of Bayern, right? Well, the original fee doesn't say much, but the sneaky sell on clause worked a charm. Richards is, of course, a Premier League level center back at his best, and should he put it all together, a crucial part of the USMNT going forward. perhaps a move to Europe was slightly too early for the American, but a decent loan at Hoffenheim and subsequent breakout year for Palace last season did enough to justify his graduation from MLS.

And for Dallas, who could net up to $5m for one of their own from Richards transfer from Bayern to Palace, it now looks like a pretty good piece of business. All Richards needs to do now is find a little more consistency for the London club.

The right back was the most expensive teenager ever when the German club agreed to pay $2m for him in 2019. At the time, it made sense. Scally was certainly a rising talent, and the fee represented a handsome return for the New York club. Throw in the fact that he wouldn't complete a move until he turned 18 in 2021, and everything added up.

Scally hasn't been spectacular, but he has done the exact job required of him. He's made 104 Bundesliga appearances and counting. A solid full back who offers a bit going forward, he is the perfect role player for a mid-table Bundesliga team. Mauricio Pochettino has started to take notice, too, with Scally impressing in a few appearances under the new USMNT manager. A fine deal for all, in the end.

Aaronson was always going to leave Philadelphia. He was too good, too young for MLS. The Union, although they would certainly have loved to hold onto him, were basically just waiting for the best offer. And Salzburg stepped up. They forked over $9m for Aaronson, at the time the highest outbound fee for a homegrown in league history. Job done.

His European career to date has been something of a mixed bag. Aaronson certainly excelled at Salzburg, but his initial spell at Leeds was far from convincing, as was an ill-advised loan at Union Berlin. This season has perhaps been his best yet, with Aaronsoin developing into a fine contributor for the Whites as they push for promotion.

This was a handsome return for Dallas, who had no choice but to cash in on Pepi. At the time, the striker was impressing for the USMNT under Gregg Berhalter, and after being named MLS Young Player of the Year, had "Europe" written all over him. It was a question of where. The Texas club managed it all perfectly. They got $20 million for their star man, and gave Pepi a decent chance to impress in a top league.

Pepi himself has only just started to adjust. A move to PSV, completed in 2023, seemed ill-advised. There was no apparent spot for him in the team, and a shaky spell in Augsburg proved little. Still, in the last four months, Pepi has shown exactly why Augsburg paid up. He has led the line for PSV with aplomb, and with rumors swirling about a potential Premier League transfer, looks like he's ready for another step up.

Adams was one of the top of MLS' top young stars when he was sold to the New York Red Bulls' Bundesliga affliate RB Leipzig in 2019.

It's difficult to fully assess Adams' time in Europe so far. On the one hand, he is, at times, an excellent and versatile defensive midfielder who any team would love to have. The fact that Chelsea, scattergun that their transfer approach may be, wanted him, only further backs up the notion that he can be a wonderful player on his day.

The issue is, injuries have rather hindered him, especially in recent years. But when fit, Adams is among the best in his position in the Premier League - something he has shown at Bournemouth since returning from a long-term injury. It remains to be seen what the future holds, but Adams is a very good defensive midfielder, who could still become elite as he's still just 25.

Who else was it going to be? Davies was highlighted as a top talent as early as 2017, when he was a 16-year-old who had just graduated from the USL into America's top flight. A wide range of clubs were interested in securing his services, with Liverpool and Manchester United both rumored to be in the running. Bayern Munich, of course, managed to get the deal over the line, paying Vancouver an MLS record $22m for the marauding left back.

It's safe to say that he has been worth every penny. Davies is undisputedly world class, a five-time Bundesliga winner with a Champions League to his name, too. Injuries have hindered his progress here and there, but Davies is still just 24. If only Vancouver had reinvested properly...