Lionel Messi: MLS 'Has Every Opportunity' to Grow to Level of Top European Leagues

Having now gained some firsthand experience in MLS, Inter Miami star Lionel Messi is confident the league can bridge the gap on the top competitions in Europe.

"I think it has every opportunity to do so," he said to ESPN's Luis Miguel Echegaray. "That growth depends a lot on the league. It's an ideal moment to grow. There are important competitions upcoming that will be played in this country [2024 Copa America, 2026 FIFA World Cup].

"It's time for the league to make that leap and finish growing, finish looking for what it's been seeking for a while. Everything is in place here to witness top-level football because of the country, the structure, a bunch of things."

American soccer fans have heard this before.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in 2015 he was confident that "people will think of us like Serie A, La Liga" within 10 years. Five years later, MLS was 10 years away from reaching that goal in the eyes of David Beckham.

The trouble for MLS and any other league looking to disrupt the status quo is that they're multiple generations behind the English Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, La Liga, the Bundesliga and others in Europe.

Whether it was Colombia in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the first iteration of the NASL, the explosion of the Chinese Super League or most recently the rise of Saudi Arabia, there have been many attempts to shake up world football throughout history. And the sport ultimately returns to the same place every time, though it's too early to tell regarding the Saudi experiment.

The best players in the world want to test themselves on the biggest stage, and they simply can't get that outside of Europe.

Having said that, MLS is probably better positioned to achieve its long-term objectives than it ever has been. There's no question the quality of the league has improved, and that trend isn't going to change when MLS is generating more revenue than ever. Messi's arrival has only furthered the process, and his continued presence — as a player and eventually a team owner — is bound to pay massive dividends.

In another decade, MLS likely won't rival its European peers in terms of prestige, but it might have succeeded in poaching more elite talent while better showcasing the most promising American stars.