Outgoing commissioner Don Garber has backed the bright young things of the MLS to establish the competition as "one of the top leagues in the world", highlighting Cavan Sullivan as a prospect who can help improve the standing of the competition even after departing the Philadelphia Union.

MLS has struck a rich seam of youth talent this season, one that USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino exploited in the first set of post-World Cup fixtures where the U.S. won all four of their friendly matches. Sullivan was among the star performers in those games, scoring twice, while Adri Mehmeti won his first three caps. These two were named among the 60 best young talents in world football by The Guardian this week, a group that includes three other youngsters who ply their trade in MLS.

Real Salt Lake's Van Parker has a strong record at youth level with Canada, while Jahmarie Nolan of Toronto FC has already made his senior debut with Jamaica. Caleb Simmons of New York Red Bulls rounded out the MLS names on the list, meaning that there were more representatives from the American division than Germany's Bundesliga. MLS has long had a reputation as something of a retirement home for the stars of yesteryear but these top prospects have Garber, whose 27-year tenure as commissioner will conclude at the end of the year, seeing a different future for the league.

Speaking at sports industry conference Leaders Week London at Stamford Bridge, Garber explained his vision for MLS in a decade's time.

"I believe that we'll have among the most competitive leagues in the world," he said.

"The Guardian came up with the top young players in the world. I think there were 50 or 60 of them. Six are young MLS players. Eight are young Premier League players."

Five were MLS, while a separate list of 20 of the best youngsters in the Premier League was also published, but the point still stands, and that's that some of the best young players in MLS are getting more and more recognition overseas and producing even more positive exposure for the league.

"What's Cavan Sullivan at [17], who is a star for a national team, going to look like when he is 26? He's probably playing for the top one or two teams in the world and winning a Champions League trophy and lifting a trophy for the United States," Garber said. "What does that mean for Major League Soccer? I think it's going to mean we'll be a very different league.

"We've got great leadership. We've got great visionary investors. We have the kids' youth game that needs to grow and become more integrated.

"We need to get our leagues to be more focused on how we can support our national teams. We need to continue to build facilities. We need to address the issue of pay-to-play, and I'm focused both on the women's side, as I haven't been focused on that, on the youth side, taking it from here."

Sullivan, the youngest player to appear in a league match in one of America's professional sports leagues, is due to join Manchester City in January 2028. The question of what sanctions will be imposed on City for their breaking of financial rules hovers over Sullivan's future, though he has already signed a contract that will allow him to move to the Premier League giants after his 18th birthday on Sept. 28 next year.

While Garber might envisage a fresh-faced quality to MLS, it is clear that there is always space in the league for the next high-profile veteran, though they will face a challenge having the same "transformational" impact that Lionel Messi has had since he arrived at Inter Miami in 2023.

Messi's presence has seen the value of his franchise triple from $585 million in 2023 to $1.35 billion three years later while his presence on the pitch has seen his Inter Miami jersey rank among the 10 best-selling in the world. On the field, Messi has proven himself to still be one of the finest players in the game, excelling as he carried Argentina to the World Cup final this summer.

"Messi is just remarkable to me how focused, committed, loyal, competitive [he is]," said Garber. "He's been in the league for many years. I hope he'll be in the league for many more.

"There isn't a person in the world that doesn't know about Major League Soccer and Inter Miami, and Leo Messi's wearing a pink jersey."

Could England's record goalscorer Harry Kane be the man to take on the mantle of face of the league post-Messi? It is certainly something that Garber would welcome.

"I'd love for him to do that. I think, for me, it is the fulfilment of the dream that we had to build a proper soccer league that would drive a soccer nation. That sounds colloquial but actually we have that written down," Garber said.

"We wanted to create something that would have the Harry Kanes of the world say, 'I'd kind of like to play in MLS.' And I think Messi proved that. That was a competitive process, working to ensure that we had a dynamic that would be better than going back to Barca, working a dynamic that would not have him want to play in Saudi Arabia."

Upon departing MLS, Garber will serve as chair of Soccer Forward, the U.S. Soccer Federation's program designed to "access and mobilize investment in the future of the game" in the United States, aiming to boost the growth of the game off the back of hosting the World Cup.

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