The MLS runs a Draft system versus in Europe where all the players are bought from foreign or local academies.

Let’s dive into the draft. The Draft system is meant so that all players coming into the league come through a scheduled entry. It’s also through this system there is supposed to be parity in the league. The lower the team finishes the higher they draft. And the higher you draft the better the prospective player.

This makes complete sense to me in the NHL where it’s the consolidated best league in the world. All the players are aiming for that league. I struggle to see where we are drafting from.

The Systems in say the Premier League work a bit different. In the Premier League there are tons of academies, each team has their own youth development system. The goal is to have players come up through the system and not have to pay another club for a player.

There are requirements like, you have to have at least 8 players that are “home grown’ in your squad. Home grown means they have played 3 seasons or 36 months with any club in that league before turning 21. You are also allowed a maximum of a 25 player squad over the age of 21. So any players under 21 don’t count to that limit. And finally like trade deadlines there are transfer windows. That is the only time players are allowed to be registered.

I think the academy style system is more true to being a city first. If you have some young hot shots that came up through local systems you would have first grabs at them from an early age.

That being said it also comes with negatives.

Players tend to go to bigger clubs, so even if Brighton have a really good player come up through their system, if an offer comes from Chelsea they probably won’t say no. Its like if Nashville was the best development system but because Montreal was a team with a legacy of winning and had more prospects coming up they chose to leave.

If the smaller team plays their cards right they can make big bucks and help boost the squad but it’s not common.

Ultimately each system has its own pros and cons. It just comes down to what system works better for the market.