Red Bulls’ Tim Parker questions MLS’ treatment of American players

Veteran Red Bulls defender Tim Parker questioned the direction of the MLS and its push toward bringing in talent from overseas.

In an interview with amNewYork, the Long Island native and St. John’s alum called it “unfortunate that the American player has lost some value” in Major League Soccer in his view. 

It’s no secret that MLS has made a push to try and move up to the level of some of the other top leagues around the world as a destination for the sport’s best talent, and the arrival of global superstar Lionel Messi has amplified the hope that more big name talent will come to the US.

And while MLS teams are developing more talent through their academy programs, it’s becoming more frequent for those players to use MLS as a stepping stone to reach European leagues. 

“I understand it from a business perspective of the owners and the clubs, and bringing in guys that are young and then offloading them to Europe, or whatever the next step may be for those players,” Parker said. “But at the same time, I think the American guys really do care about this league, me being one of them. I’ve been here my entire career, and I value everything it has. It does hurt to see sometimes that maybe we don’t get — I don’t want to say the respect we deserve — but I think the American guys want to play here. We don’t want to have to go anywhere else, so hopefully, they keep us around a little bit longer.”

Both local MLS clubs saw two homegrown stars loaned out or sold to European teams. 

Red Bulls defender and U.S. Men’s National Team member John Tolkin was sold to Holstein Kiel of the Bundesliga and New York City FC midfielder James Sands was loaned to St. Pauli, which also plays in Germany’s top domestic league.

Parker’s comments came amid a surprising offseason, in which the defender struggled to find a new home for 2025 after he was traded late in the season by St. Louis City SC to New England and then didn’t receive much interest in free agency. 

The 32-year-old told amNewYork that his agent had to eventually start calling teams to see if there was any interest in signing Parker. 

“I just thought it’d be a different process. I thought there would be a little more of a recruiting process. Not necessarily of us having to reach out to as many teams. I thought it would be a little more reciprocated,” he said. 

Parker is a veteran of the league and played from 2018 to 2020 with the Red Bulls. 

He had been named to Major League Soccer’s Best XI in 2023, which is a designation that recognizes the league’s best players at each position.