Mohamed Salah announced he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, and several offers quickly emerged to secure the Egyptian star’s services, including a move to Major League Soccer.
However, the sporting director of the Egyptian national team, Ibrahim Hassan, has warned “Mo” about this, claiming he would be forgotten and that he “no longer remembered Messi.” Now, MLS Commissioner Don Garber has responded.
Garber defended Messi and MLS
With uncertainty surrounding Salah’s future club, Hassan advised the 33-year-old forward to sign with a European club or, at the very least, join Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi league.
“A move to Major League Soccer? He’d be too far from the spotlight. Nobody will remember Salah anymore, just like I don’t remember [Lionel] Messi; I don’t even try to watch him play,” he warned.
These words did not go unnoticed, least of all by the commissioner of the American league, who had not only stated that he would like to have Salah on his roster but also used an interview with The Guardian to deliver a forceful response in defense of MLS and the Argentine star:
“This is the first time I’ve heard anything like that,” Garber said. “Lionel Messi is the most popular player in the world. He was and still is. I’d gladly give the president of the Egyptian Football Association an Apple subscription so he can watch as many of Messi’s games as he wants,” he added.
Meanwhile, criticism of Major League Soccer is nothing new to Garber, who acknowledges that the league has always been viewed as inferior. However, for the commissioner, things are changing.
“I think Hassan’s perspective is very representative of what MLS faces as we develop into a major player on the world stage. I remember that, not long ago, the coaches of the Mexican national team would say, ‘If you’re in MLS, you won’t play for our national team.’ That doesn’t happen today.”
“We constantly face the idea that we Americans will never understand it, and that’s simply not true. I’ve been dealing with skepticism for 27 years. It’s never stopped me, and it never will,” he added.
The truth is that, beyond the debate and controversy between Hassan and Garber, the Egyptian has not revealed what his next destination will be after leaving the team with which he won two Premier League titles and the Champions League.
Amid the back-and-forth of statements, Mohamed Salah’s future remains open and fraught with anticipation. While Major League Soccer champions its growth and stars like Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Thomas Müller, James Rodríguez, and Son Heung-min bolster its global profile, the Egyptian forward’s final decision would not only mark the beginning of a new chapter following the end of his brilliant run with the Reds, but also the course of his legacy in world soccer.
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