Darren Eales joins Newcastle United next month having left his mark on the MLS with Atlanta United. The soon to be Magpies CEO has helped revolutionise the American game with a smart business model that saw the Five Stripes win the MLS Cup just four years after their formation.
The emphasis on developing young players with a view to selling for profit, whilst also improving the club's overall standing was a huge success in the early years. Miguel Almiron was one of those players sold for huge profit but the club has struggled in recent seasons.
The MLS rules mean that there's a large turnover in players most seasons, with a core group of players remaining each year. Newcastle's recent transfer activity in acquiring Bruno Guimaraes and Sven Botman hints a the long-term vision at the club, whilst also improving the current squad of players.
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Speaking to the New York Times, Eales gave an insight into the vision he could replicate at St. James' Park. Speaking in 2019, he said: "When we went out and built the club, our intention was to be clear with the fans from the very start. We were going to attract players who were young, or going toward the prime of their career, rather than a last contract or a last hurrah for a player from Europe.
"The idea here is, we’re part of this global network of soccer clubs. Miggy came to us, he had two fantastic years, won the M.L.S. Cup in the second season, had tremendous success on the pitch, and then he got a chance to fulfil his dream to go to the Premier League and play for a club there.
"So obviously, it was good for him, good for the league, because now the league can say, ‘We have a mechanism for you to showcase yourself, so come to M.L.S., play in a short window, and when the right moment comes, you can move to a top league in Europe.’ That was the dream we sold, and we had to at least prove the concept because otherwise it was going to be difficult for us to recruit other players if we didn’t do that.
"Everyone’s been asking when soccer is going to succeed in America, but if you watched the Cup final, with 73,000 passionate fans who were tailgating all afternoon, with an exciting style of play, it really has happened in America already. It’s great for me because yes, I wanted to make Atlanta United a real success story.
"But we’re also part of the bigger story, which is growing the game of soccer in America, being the pioneers to hopefully one day make it one of the top leagues in the world."
Of course, Newcastle's financial muscle means the comparison's with Atlanta are not exactly linear. However, Eales believes there's plenty of examples of club's following a similar business plan in the MLS.
"I’m not sure about replicating, but like every other business, you look at what other businesses are doing successfully and try to take those things that might work," said Eales. "I’m a fan of how L.A.F.C. came into the league.
"You saw the way they filled out their roster; there were similarities. I wouldn’t say they were copying us, but there were similarities. That’s a good thing.
"We were in a strange situation as pioneers trying to grow the league. There will be more teams looking, when they think of their out-of-pocket expenditures, money above the cap, not just the salaries — there’s much more awareness around investing more than we would have in a transfer fee for a younger player because we might have a chance to make a profit, or make our investment back. That’s going to open up an avenue for a few more clubs."
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