Robbie Keane earns Major League Soccer’s highest salary, coming in ahead of Thierry Henry, last year’s league leader. However, the striker falls just behind Henry in total pay, as once bonuses are taken into account Henry pushses fractionally ahead.
While Henry’s total compensation – including guaranteed bonuses accrued throughout the year – narrowly edges out Keane, Ireland’s record goal scorer now earns the league’s highest base salary, with an annual salary of $4 million.
Henry’s salary dropped from $5 million to $3.75m in the last year, however the Frenchman does retain a total payment of $4.35m, which pushes just beyond Keane’s total of $4.33m.
Only eight players in the league make seven figure base salaries. New York Red Bulls’ Tim Cahill, who takes home a handy $3.6 million per annum, is the league’s third highest paid player while Keane’s LA galaxy teammate Landon Donovan, whose earns $2.5 million per year. Former Rangers striker Kenny Miller, now of the Vancouver Whitecaps, collects $1.15m.
The Sporting Intelligence blog has pointed out that the league's total payroll of $89 million is just 40% of the payroll of Manchester City.
You can view the full report from the MLS players union on the MLS salary figures here
