Jurgen Klopp praises quality of MLS, says stature will 'grow and grow'

Martin Macdonald

• 29 Sep 2025 17:30 CDT
• 2 min read

News

Legendary manager Jurgen Klopp has praised the quality of Major League Soccer and believes the competition will grow in stature over the next five years.

MLS has gone from strength to strength in terms of popularity and quality over the last two decades to the point where superstar players no longer consider it to be a retirement home of sorts, but rather an opportunity to showcase their talents in one of the biggest countries in the world.

Quality players looking to make an impact in Europe also view MLS as a potentially key stepping stone in their careers.

Klopp, who is now Red Bull's head of global soccer, praised the competition in a recent visit to New York Red Bulls.

"I'm 100% sure, in five years time, we [will] speak completely differently," the former Liverpool boss said over the weekend.

"I'm really sure it will grow and grow and grow.

"The kids coming up, starting playing soccer earlier, training, getting better. Obviously, the place where you can play and train getting better. Everywhere.

"I can tell you, the quality is really, really good. Good players, a lot of talent, high intensity. All these things you want to see when you watch it in a stadium or in television. I think [MLS] found its spot and now let's work with it."

Klopp praises MLS facilities

The former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund boss was also highly impressed with the new Morris Township, New Jersey training facility of New York Red Bulls.

"Massively, massively impressed," he said. "This is outstanding. It's something you never really can dream of, because you cannot win when you win or whatever you do in football and soccer.

"But then you think guys that possibly, this is fine. This is fine. This fine. This is a completely next level. It's really it's really cool. It's really well thought through. It's so many opportunities. It's easy to say we will not be successful in the future. This is not the reason."

NY Red Bulls are currently 11th in the Eastern Conference.

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