Ball and Chain

In 2018, when Wayne Rooney joined DC United of Major League Soccer following a celebrated career in England’s Premier League, he became more than just a star addition to the league. He also became an unexpected advocate for players’ rights.

“I feel that American players get underpaid,” Rooney told ESPN FC in September. “I feel they deserve to get more money to stay in line with football in the rest of the world but also in terms of the American sports. I’m not saying it to benefit me…I think it’s only fair to those players who are putting in the same work as all have to earn the right to earn more money for doing it.”

Rooney wasn’t the only former European soccer superstar to knock MLS. Zlatan Ibrahimovic also made the move to the league in 2018, following the well-worn path of many aging European soccer greats looking for a few more seasons on the pitch—and the opportunity to play in a league where an inferior talent pool allows them to maintain their star quality. (Describing the league’s talent, the outspoken Swede called himself “a Ferrari among Fiats.”) Shortly after arriving (and taking a massive 95 percent pay cut), Ibrahimovic began to voice his discontent with the league, citing poor refereeing, the quality of play, and the MLS playoff system, which he described as “shit.”