Does Splashing the Cash in MLS Work?

Sporting Kansas City look set to make a splash this summer window bringing in a third Designated Player for the club. Three names have been mentioned, Mohamed Salah, Yann Gboho, and Andre Luiz. While Salah is out of contract, the other two are currently under contract with another club, meaning if KC were to acquire Gboho or Luiz, KC would be paying a transfer fee to their current club to acquire them. The reports current have Kansas City spending somewhere between €18m and €22m to acquire either of the two. That fee would put their acquisition as the largest in Kansas City’s history by a considerable margin, and one of the largest fees paid in MLS history.

Paying a large transfer fee though doesn’t necessarily guarantee success on the field, so with the transfer fee in mind, let’s take a look at some of the largest transfer fees paid in MLS history and how those signings have worked out. For this list, we’re going to use Transfermarkt’s evaluation of transfers. Given how tight lipped MLS tends to be with announcing the actual fee paid for players the real number may be off, but it’s a reference point.

1. Heung-min Son – Los Angeles FC – €22m
Son falls into a couple of categories with this fee that Los Angeles FC paid to Tottenham last summer to acquire the South Korean international. He’s still an extremely talented player, as Sporting themselves found out last Saturday when Sporting played LAFC. He has also brought an audience to the club from the South Korean community. He’s recorded 12 goals and 13 assists for LAFC in twenty-six games, adding another three goals and an assist in the playoffs, and two goals and seven assists in the playoffs. It’s still relatively early but overall this seems a good price paid by LAFC.

2. Emmanuel Latte Lath – Atlanta United – €21.25m
From the good to the bad. Latte Lath arrived in Atlanta before the 2025 MLS season from EFL Championship side, Middlesbrough, with the home that he’d help bring Atlanta United back to the success they’d had early in their club’s history. It’s been a struggle though as in forty-four league games over a year and a half he has scored just nine goals. He’s been held out of Atlanta’s last two league games with reports that he’ll be returning to Europe (likely at a loss for Atlanta).

3. Josh Sargent – Toronto FC- €18.65m
The player that Sporting KC at one time had a Homegrown Player territory claim on returned to MLS this season to Toronto FC. It’s a little too early to gauge this signing for Toronto, but early on it’s probably fair to say Sargent hasn’t lit the league on fire with three goals and one assist in ten games this season and Toronto outside the playoffs currently.

4. Kevin Denkey – FC Cincinnati – €15.3m
The 24 year old forward for Cincinnati has had a successful start to his career in MLS scoring twenty-six goals in forty-five games, while playing a little over 3,600 minutes. The Togolese striker certainly seems to be a hit for Cincinnati, even with the high price.

5. Rodrigo De Paul – Inter Miami – €15m
The Argentine international was acquired on a DP contract for the 2026 season after being on loan in the second half of the 2025 season. He’s scored four goals this season and added seven assists as Miami sit just behind Nashville SC in the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings. It’s a solid output for a player who predominately plays a little deeper in Miami’s star studded team.

It’s certainly a mixed bag of results for the top five players, of which Gboho or Luiz would land squarely in the middle of if SKC gets either of the deals done. Four of the five players are in markets that would be considered more high profile than Kansas City, with only Denkey and Cincinnati being near the same level as Kansas City. The top five are all from five different teams, which is a potential factor in pay. Though if you expand the number further, reviewing the above from Transfermarkt, Atlanta have four of the top ten highest fees paid for players, while Miami have two of the remaining six.

For a team like Kansas City putting up that much money into one player it feels like there’s less room for error in how the player contributes to the team. Obviously that also looks at the owner of the club and their net worth, so maybe Peter Mallouk is willing to eat more if the player doesn’t pan out.

All that to say, paying the reported fee for Luiz or Gboho doesn’t guarantee success on the field for an MLS team. At best it’s a mixed bag of results. Assuming one of the two will be on their way to KC, while it’s fun to see Kansas City up among the big spenders in the league, the results aren’t guaranteed and whoever KC acquires, if they end up completing the deal, will have large expectations placed on them.