Major League Soccer is recently gaining more and more fans among top soccer players in Europe. After Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann recently said that he wants to finish his career in the MLS, Manchester City’s star forward Raheem Sterling also decided to publicly state his affection to playing soccer in the U.S.
During his recent appearance at a Wall Street Journal conference, Sterling said that he was surprised how popular soccer became in the United States in recent years.
“English football has grown massively over here. It wasn’t like that in the past, and it’ll continue to get bigger,” – said Sterling. “I was surprised even just popping out to the shops and being recognized by one or two people. I didn’t expect that over here.”
Sterling then went on to note how MLS is becoming popular overseas, and expressed his hope that he will play there one day.
“For sure, it [MLS] is growing in the UK, and people are really taking it in and want to come over. Hopefully, I will have a career here as well,” – he added.
It isn’t a surprise that Raheem Sterling knows so much about MLS considering the fact that Manchester City and MLS side New York City FC share the same owner. Also, numerous City players have played at one point on loan with NYFC.
Sterling has established himself as one of the world’s most gifted young soccer players in recent years. This season he helped City lift the Premier League trophy for the second consecutive time by scoring 17 goals and adding 10 assists in the competition. He also scored five goals in Champions League.
