Watch Atlanta United vs Portland Timbers in the MLS Cup final, live on Sky Sports in the early hours of Sunday
Wednesday 5 December 2018 18:49, UK
The MLS can act as a launching pad for players at any stage in their careers, according to the league's commissioner Don Garber.
David Beckham, who is launching his own team, Inter Miami, signed for LA Galaxy in 2007 and paved the way for Wayne Rooney to move to DC United and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to join LA Galaxy.
Having Ibrahimovic, who said last month he is "not interested in a January move to Europe" despite reported interest from AC Milan, has only helped the league progress, according to Garber.
He said: "The fact that Zlatan is being pursued by AC Milan at his age shows that coming to Major League Soccer, whatever point in your career, can be a launching pad for bigger and even better.
"That is something that wasn't the case many, many years ago. David came here at 31 in 2006, no one really knew about Major League Soccer around the world.
"Certainly, global players at the peak of their careers weren't aware about the league.
"But in the last 10-12 years since David Beckham got here, now this has become a place where players in the early part of their career, in their prime and up-and-coming veterans come.
"They can find Major League Soccer as a great place for them to both shine and create valuable things for their own personal achievement."
The MLS post-season culminates in the early hours of Sunday morning when Atlanta United face Portland Timbers in the MLS Cup final, live on Sky.
