Patrick Agyemang and Adilson Malanda make an immediate impact overseas: Has MLS caught up with the English Championship?

By Brian Maurer

Patrick Agyemang celebrating during his time with Charlotte FC (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)

Several MLS players have made the move to the English Championship this past year, and it feels like just about all of them have hit the ground running. USMNT striker Patrick Agyemang has scored in three of his last four games and now leads Derby County in goal contributions this season (9g/3a).

Adilson Malanda has made six starts since joining Middlesbrough this winter and has helped the team keep three clean sheets. More than the stats, the Boro fanbase has been posting tons of adulation about the young French defender.

Malanda's teammate, Aidan Morris, formerly from the Columbus Crew, has been with Middlesbrough since 2024 and has already amassed over 60 appearances. Former Philadelphia Union fullback Kai Wagner hit the ground running with Birmingham City with goal contributions in his first two starts.

The Vancouver Whitecaps also transferred wide player Ali Ahmed to Norwich City this winter window, and he has four goal contributions (2g/2a) through his first four appearances.

All of these recent headlines beg the question. Has MLS caught up with England's Second Tier?

Experienced players who have made the switch from England to MLS have noticed a closing of the gap between MLS and England's Tier 2, "The quality and the level that the players [in MLS] are at, the athleticism is amazing, it just shows you how close the leagues actually are," said Charlotte FC's left back Harry Toffolo, who spent multiple seasons in the English Championship with Huddersfield Town, and then with Nottingham Forest in the Premier League after that.

Toffolo mentioned that the Designated Player rule in MLS does still somewhat limit teams on balance, as there are teams in the EFL Championship that can have five, ten, or even fifteen players around that DP level.

According to Transfermarkt, there are six teams in England's Second Tier that have an average player market value over 4 million euros (~$4.7m). Going into 2026, Transfermarkt's most valuable team in MLS is Inter Miami with an average player market value of around $4.2m.

Capology estimates that Leicester City has 15 players on at least $1.9m total gross salary. The 2026 Max-TAM level for MLS* is set at ~$1.8m. Leicester is having a difficult season this year, but with several other teams in the Championship with the ability to diversify their spending in a similar way to the Foxes, it's difficult to say definitively that MLS clubs can compete with the best teams in England's Tier 2.

However, as you approach the median of the Championship, MLS clubs as a whole start to look far more comparable when using Transfermarkt's valuations.

It is also worth noting that most of the MLS players making the jump to England are among their brightest prospects, and in Wagner's case, a two-time MLS Best XI player.

Clearly, the gap is closing and has been for several years. If changes come to the MLS's roster rules after the World Cup, that gap could shrink entirely with extra funds pulling the future closer.

*Max-TAM is the highest cap level a club can use allocation money on to "buy down" a player's salary to reduce the salary budget charge. Anything over that Max-TAM level means that player has to be a Designated Player with no option of using allocation money. That means in the above example, Leicester City has at least 15 DPs on their books according to Capology.