THE MAJOR LEAGUE Soccer Players Union have revealed a comprehensive list of players’ salaries from the league, and it turns out Ireland captain Robbie Keane is doing very, very well.
Keane will be the 10th highest earner from the league this year, with his MLS contract worth a guaranteed $4.5m (€4.04m) a year.
Kevin Doyle, now with the Colorado Rapids, is one of 22 players who’s guaranteed earnings for the year will be over $1m, with an annual average salary of $1.17m, while his Rapids teammate and former Irish International Sean St Ledger’s deal is worth just under $150,000 a year.
The highest earner in the league is former AC Milan and Real Madrid star Kaka, who will make $7.16m in 2015, while former Juventus striker Sebastian Giovinco is just below that on $7.11m.
Steven Gerrard’s move to LA Galaxy looks to have been a lucrative one, he’ll earn a guaranteed $6.33m from the MLS, while Frank Lampard is earning a similar amount at exactly $6m.
Two other recent arrivals to the MLS, Andrea Pirlo and Didier Drogba have a surprisingly low annual salary however, with Pirlo on $2.3m a year, and Drogba $2.16, but this figure only represents the earnings each player will make from the MLS, and cannot account any other contracts players have with holding companies associated with their teams, often used to sidestep the salary cap.
The highest earning American player in the league this year is US midfielder Michael Bradley, who is earning $6m a year with an extra $500,000 guaranteed.
Meanwhile Sunderland flop Jozy Altidore seems to have landed on his feet following his nightmare spell in the Premier League, earning a whopping $4.75m, making him the 8th highest player in the league.
For player who have joined the league mid-way through the year, the figure represents what their average annual salary is worth, and not what they will make in the remainder of 2015.
The full list of MLS salaries can be viewed here.
