MLS chief defends league spotlight for Mohamed Salah

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber has pushed back against suggestions that Mohamed Salah would slip out of the global conversation if he decided to continue his career in the United States.

His response followed remarks from Egypt national team director Ibrahim Hassan, who warned Salah off MLS and argued the league would leave him “far too out of the spotlight,” even comparing it to no longer closely following Lionel Messi.

Garber strongly disagreed. “That’s the first time that I’ve ever heard anything like that, ‘Leo Messi is the most popular player in the world. He was, and he still is,’” he said, using Messi’s sustained popularity as evidence that MLS can keep megastars firmly in view. With a touch of humour, he added that he would happily send Hassan an Apple subscription “so he can watch as many Messi games as he’d like.”

The MLS boss admitted that such scepticism reflects long-standing perceptions of the competition but stressed, “We are constantly dealing with this perspective and it’s just not true.” Salah has already confirmed he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, and interest is expected from Saudi Arabia, MLS and other major leagues.