The Major League Soccer Player's Union updated the listing of MLS players salaries earlier today, and shed some light on just how much the league's newcomers are costing.
From million-dollar strikers Kenny Miller and Marco DiVaio, to centerbacks making between $200K an $300K like Arne Friedrich, Alessando Nesta and Bakary Soumare, MLS teams did some serious spending to make their mid-season roster improvements.
There are also some interesting bargains, such as New England Olympic star Jerry Bengtson and impressive Houston newcomer Oscar Boniek Garcia, who both are making less than $160,000 in guaranteed salary (though it should be noted that things like marketing and promotional incentives and transfer fees are not included in those figures. In the cases of Bengtson and Garcia, it is a safe bet that the transfer fees that brought them to MLS are what makes both Designated Players).
Here is a rundown of how much money the league's mid-season additions are slated to make in 2012:
MLS SALARIES FOR NEW ARRIVALS
Arne Friedrich (Chicago Fire)- $230,833
Sherjill McDonald (Chicago Fire)-$487,125
Jairo Arrieta (Columbus Crew)- $225,375
Oscar Boniek Garcia (Houston Dynamo)- $151,250
Marco DiVaio (Montreal Impact) $1,937,508
Alessandro Nesta (Montreal Impact)- $225,000
Jerry Bengtson (New England Revolution)- $120,000
Bakary Soumare (Philadelphia Union)- $280,000
Barry Robson (Vancouver Whitecaps)- $596,499
Kenny Miller (Vancouver Whitecaps)- $1,239,316
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If you want to see all the MLS salaries, you can see them here. Players who were signed right at the deadline, like Tim Cahill, are not listed yet.
What do you think of these salaries? Who do you consider a bargain? Who is overpriced?
Share your thoughts below.
When Birchall went back to Port Vale recently, before returning to MLS, when some issues hit I think he was willing to play for free. We tend to focus on money money money and assume it’s the motivation for everyone, but it’s not necessarily the story.
Ching also took a half-salary paycut to come back to Houston. One thing that probably prevents that happening more often is the CBA and league rules, I think Ching was special dispensation.
Maybe he just wants to be with a particular team and group of people at a particular time, and in Nesta’s case he doesn’t necessarily need the money, if he’s managed the nest egg right. Some of these athletes who need the money need it because they don’t control themselves buy the big house cars etc. and then need a high salary just to stay afloat. Hence the bankruptcies when they get hurt or retire.
Maybe Nesta just wanted to try something different and him being independently wealthy from earing bank from AC Milan all those years + many endoursement deals lets the dude do what he wants.
OT: How much of a joke is the MLS logo? That might need to be updated…
He made clear this is a one-year deal for him, for one thing, and he was trying to get away from his situation in the Bundesliga for another, where he’s been labeled – guess what? – injury-prone.
Couldn’t agree more, our front office must be full of geniuses. Garcia’s quality so far has been incredible. GREAT SIGNING ORANGE!
I agree with McDonald is among most idiotic signing. Especially McDonald being such a failure as a forward in Belgium…Eurosnobs are laughing their asses off!
Even though he’s arguably one of the best Italian centerbacks ever, I find it difficult to believe most teams in the world would pay more for one of the most injury-prone players i’ve ever seen, and one that doesn’t particularly put bums in seats. I think the fact that he took the contract proves as much…no one else was offering him more.
That’s my take on it, and i’m unabashedly a Nesta fan.
My Revs are either really shrewd or really cheap…I think I’ll go with the latter
I want to see confirmation that the Revs actually bought Bengtson outright, because there were noises that this was just (yet another) a loan deal like Caraglio or Pepe Moreno.
MLS did this prior to Keane. Fabian Castillo of FCD for example.
Aahhh. Makes sense now. Thanks.
I fail to see the funny on this one. Not unless you are a recent fan of soccer in the US you would clearly understand the need for a cap (see NASL, and no not that new one).
Like the cap or not, it is a steady approach that has MLS treading the successful heights today.
So I am missing the funny, which could apply to me missing your sarcasm. It’s the internet and “lol” is hard to read sometimes, plus it’s early in the morning.
Parity and finacial stability for a league in a country that must compete with 3 or 4 other major proffesional sports leagues. The US professional soccer situation is like no other in the world. Why ask a question if you are to stupid to listen to a response.
When is LA going to make use of their recent salary dumps?
sometimes transfer fee = multiple seasons (re: Fernandez in Seattle [now Chicago]).
If he plays like Eddie, Chicago has done well
What are the terms of the Di Viao contract, because that seems insane. Hope it is just a one year deal that was meant to give Montreal immediate competitiveness (is that a word?)
Second that. They are proving to be a solid fit for the MLS with, surprisingly, little adjustment period.
He was one of those with a transfer fee attached (a new tactic for the MLS that started with Robbie Keane), so the cost to the club was significantly more than his listed salary. Regardless, has made the team infinitely better, so no matter the price tag, a good acquisition.
I’ll take Boniek at 150k over any other overpaid player anytime…smart from the Dynamo!
Boniek may be the smartest DP signing any club has made in MLS from a dollars to performance standpoint. He’s great on the ball, calm yet brings energy, and makes the players around him better, I’ve never seen another player make the impact he has in such a short period of time.
I agree. I just don’t see how that is correct.
Sherjill McDonald (Chicago Fire)-$487,125
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Just another boneheaded move on the financial side of the Fire front office.
lol
lol
MacDonald is a total headscratcher to me. His resume reads like Eddie Johnson, without any of the National team caps. 27 year-old striker, bounced around in 2nd tier leagues, and then scored 15 goals in 82 games (2.5 seasons) on a mid-table Belgian team. That’s 6 goals a season. How on earth does that warrant $550k? I’d rather have 4 young Hondurans on my team for that money!!
A stable professional soccer league in the united states
Nesta is the unbelievable bargain. Got to be wrong. If not, why didn’t Red Bull buy him for a non-DP salary when he wanted to go to NY?!
Nesta = AC Milan??????
Parity
So next season will NE have no DPs since Bengston’s salary doesn’t qualify w/o transfer fee and Shalrie is gone?
why have a salary cap? no other league on the planet has one. Whats the good argument for a salary cap?
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves…I’m all for a free market that leans towards the labor, but A#1 is getting the league a heritage and a foothold. Tip the hat to the investors now and make them reinvest as MLS metamorphasizes from a AAA to a major league entity. I think it’s possible.
Anyone else find it odd that Nesta makes only $225K and Di Vaio makes nearly $2 million? These guys go way back, right? Good friends. Maybe Montreal gets around Nesta being a DP by overpaying DiVaio and having him transfer some of his salary to Nesta. Maybe they both really are taking home about $1 million Crazy talk? Hard to imagine Nesta coming from AC Milan to a brand new MLS team in Montreal for only $225.
Hopefully next season
Each team needs to have a maximum of 4 DP’s and salary cap needs to be raised to like 4million ASAP.
how can we get quality European players when even the crappy ones can get a few hundred grand a season in leagues like Norway and Denmark. Heck the average player in the Championship gets nearly a million a year
how are they comparably? which teams did they play for?
how is it that we can get actual solid European players for less than DP money? Hard to believe
Ronaldinho to mls
If Bengston keeps scoring this dude will command a big transfer fee. A few million for sure
MLS should raid all of Honduras’ best players.
why does Friedrich make less than a quarter million? He’s a 2 time WC star. He should easily be making double that
As a Fire fan, fine with the Friederich total-he’s been great some games, very good in the others. The McDonald one on the other hand…I guess it’s their money.
That is exactly what made my jaw drop. I saw his salary vs DiVaio…
Transfer fee??
there was probably a transfer fee that bumped him up
How does Nesta only make 225K?
How is Bengston a DP with such a low salary?
Why are they dogging Nesta like that whilst Di Vaio makes such an exorbitant amount?
New England paying the least – imagine that.