Lorenzo Insigne is far and away the highest-paid player in MLS as the former Napoli star's contract with Toronto FC will see him make $14 million annually.
The MLS Players Association released its annual salary information report on Monday, with the salaries of every player in the league revealed to the public.
Recently-arriving stars like Gareth Bale, Hector Herrera and Insigne's teammate Federico Bernardeschi also all crack the top 25 best-paid players in the league, joining the likes of Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez, Xherdan Shaqiri and Gonzalo Higuain.
The top 25 highest-paid players in MLS
Player | Club | Total guaranteed salary |
|---|---|---|
Lorenzo Insigne | Toronto FC | $14,000,000 |
Xherdan Shaqiri | Chicago Fire | $8,153,000 |
Javier Hernandez | LA Galaxy | $7,442,750 |
Federico Bernardeschi | Toronto FC | $6,256,322 |
Douglas Costa | LA Galaxy | $5,800,000 |
Gonzalo Higuain | Inter Miami | $5,246,750 |
Hector Herrera | Houston Dynamo | $5,246,875 |
Alejandro Pozuelo | Inter Miami | $4,693,000 |
Luiz Araujo | Atlanta United | $4,480,333 |
Jozy Altidore | New England Revolution | $4,264,963 |
Christian Benteke | D.C. United | $4,182,778 |
Josef Martinez | Atlanta United | $4,141,667 |
Lucas Zelarayan | Columbus Crew | $3,700,000 |
Carles Gil | New England Revolution | $3,545,833 |
Rodolfo Pizarro | Inter Miami | $3,350,000 |
Nico Lodeiro | Seattle Sounders | $3,256,667 |
Franco Jara | FC Dallas | $3,227,000 |
Raul Ruidiaz | Seattle Sounders | $3,227,000 |
Victor Wanyama | CF Montreal | $3,091,667 |
Cucho Hernandez | Columbus Crew | $2,886,000 |
Carlos Vela | LAFC | $2,737,500 |
Gustavo Bou | New England Revolution | $2,386,667 |
Gareth Bale | LAFC | $2,386,667 |
Gaston Gimenez | Chicago Fire | $2,360,667 |
Walker Zimmerman | Nashville SC | $2,345,214 |
The Big Picture
Toronto FC continues to take MLS spending to new heights, as their two Italian stars both crack the top five.
With a total budget of $32.2 million, the Canadian side is far and away the biggest-spending MLS team when it comes to salary.
Inisigne and Bernardeschi alone make more than all but three MLS teams, with the New York Red Bulls the lowest spending in the league at $9.6 million, just over half of what Insigne makes in a season.
Toronto FC, however, failed to make the playoffs after Insigne and Bernardeschi arrived midseason after finishing up with Napoli and Juventus, respectively.