The MLS has been growing at a rapid rate since David Beckham made his marquee move from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy in 2007. As well as increasing the profile of football in a country that has been notoriously reticent to embrace the beautiful game as a top level sport, Beckham made the league popular for players who had fallen out of favour in Europe. Consequently, there are a fair few Premier League legends currently residing stateside. New York City FC have got the Wright-Phillips brothers and Frank Lampard, who recently scored his 302nd career goal in the Big Apple. Steven Gerrard signed for LA Galaxy in 2015, while Didier Drogba is plying his trade across the border in Canada.
Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey are the two most successful players to have moved from the MLS to the Premier League. Dempsey commanded the highest transfer fee paid for an MLS player in 2007 when he moved to Fulham for $4 million and became the highest-paid American player when he moved to Tottenham in 2012. Howard signed for Manchester United in 2003 but inconsistent performances and the arrival of Edwin van der Sar saw him shipped out to Everton in 2006, and it was there where he established himself as a world-class 'keeper. He helped the Toffees achieve consistency in their league position and became only the fourth goalkeeper to score a Premier League goal, achieving cult hero status in the process. Since returning to the MLS earlier this year, Howard has spoken about the transformation that the league has undergone since he left for England in 2004, saying (per The Guardian):
"There were obviously one or two talented footballers in the MLS, but now we have an influx of them. From the US side of things, our players are becoming more [successful] at a younger age. We have kids playing in Europe. We have kids playing major roles within the league here. That was something I didn’t see when I left.”
Despite the progress that has been made, none of the players currently in the Premier League who began their careers in the MLS are at clubs who are likely to be challenging for silverware (the exception being Matt Miazga who is on loan at Vitesse from Chelsea.) Manchester City's shared ownership structure with New York City FC means that this is likely to change in the near future as they look to consolidate the 'City' brand , and there are some talented players from other MLS sides on the radar of some of Europe's biggest clubs. 19-year-old centre-half Erik Palmer-Brown is currently on loan at Porto from Kansas City having attracted attention from Juventus, while Walker Zimmerman of FC Dallas is being lauded for his aerial abilities. However, it seems like it will be a few years yet until we see a Premier League club making an MLS player their marquee signing.