Beckham’s AC Milan Deal Coming to Completion, Top 25 Salaries in the MLS
Beckham’s World: Night & Day
AC Milan Chief Executive Adriano Galliani has confirmed that David Beckham will return to the Italian Club in January.
It’s 100% certain. The only thing missing is the signatures, the agreement is done.
The 34 year old English midfielder is hoping to maintain a spot in Capello’s squad for World Cup 2010 and a return to Serie A from MLS Club LA Galaxy will only help his cause.
Apparently he will only be rejoining Milan on Loan though, perhaps to the chagrin of some of the other Galaxy players……
The MLS has rules in place stating only a certain percentage of a club’s players can receive above a certain salary. So 5% of those in the American league will see payments even slightly competitive with those European stars are receiving. The other 95% of players commonly need to take on second jobs just to pay rent.
Does LA Galaxy need to retain Beckham? Is the club really making a mint off loaning him to Milan? Beckham is pretty open about his sentiment that the MLS is sub-par; he’s lost the respect of the die hard Galaxy fans, and most recently he was snubbed for Player of the Year Award which went (and in my opinion rightfully so) to Landon Donovan.
I’m not sure what the cost of releasing Beckham would be to Los Angeles but he’s almost become a thorn in their side. Initially, Beckham’s arrival on U.S. soil saw ticket sales skyrocket for all clubs as the Galaxy would tour. I even bought one to see him play 15 minutes coming off an injury against DC United. (Ok, I may have bought them in hopes Victoria would be attending as well-she is my shoe guru). But as Beckham-mania subsided, so did a lot of the revenue his presence brought in to the League.
Here are the Top 25 Salaries in the MLS:
| Rank | Name | Club | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Beckham* | Los Angeles Galaxy | $6,500,000.04 |
| 2 | Cuauhtemoc Blanco* | Chicago Fire | $2,943,702 |
| 3 | Juan Pablo Angel* | New York Red Bulls | $1,798,000 |
| 4 | Freddie Ljungberg* | Seattle Sounders FC | $1,314,000 |
| 5 | Landon Donovan* | Los Angeles Galaxy | $900,000 |
| 6 | Guillermo Barros Schelotto* | Columbus Crew | $775,000 |
| 7 | Luciano Emilio* | D.C. United | $758,857.14 |
| 8 | Shalrie Joseph | New England Revolution | $450,000 |
| 9 | Christian Gomez | D.C. United | $430,000 |
| 10 | Taylor Twellman | New England Revolution | $420,000 |
| 11 | Brian McBride | Chicago Fire | $385,333.33 |
| 12 | Darren Huckerby | San Jose Earthquakes | $385,000 |
| 13 | Dwayne DeRosario | Toronto FC | $357,000 |
| 14 | Amado Guevara | Toronto FC | $323,750 |
| 15 | Chad Marshall | Columbus Crew | $320,000 |
| 16 | Carl Robinson | Toronto FC | $315,000 |
| 17 | Pablo Vitti | Toronto FC | $303,000 |
| 18 | Pablo Mastroeni | Colorado Rapids | $300,500 |
| 19 | Kasey Keller | Seattle Sounders FC | $300,000 |
| 20 | Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | $267,500 |
| 21 | Fred | D.C. United | $257,000 |
| 22 | Justin Mapp | Chicago Fire | $255,000 |
| 23 | Jaime Moreno | D.C. United | $250,000 |
| 24 | Ricardo Clark | Houston Dynamo | $248,050 |
| 25 | Bobby Convey | San Jose Earthquakes | $244,50 |
Via MLS Daily
Considering this list details a small percentage of the designated top earners in the MLS, imagine what the average player earns. And imagine what Beckham’s $6.5 million could do if spread out among players who actually wanted to play in the MLS. A small but deserved award?
I fully understand Beckham’s desire to go to South Africa. And I agree that he’s got a better chance of doing so if he’s playing in Milan. The question is- LA Galaxy to cut the cord or not. What do you think?
Well i think the proof is in the pudding as we say in Blighty
Where are LA in the league?
Theyve gone from totally shite to winners in a few short seasons. Im sure The Galaxy (a bit of a silly name for a team) could get ten good players for Becks fee but you have a player like him around to lift everyone else. Plus the branding potential he gives a club would be hundreds of times more than 10 good but not so well know players. Its a bit like Arsenal…all very good players, but how good would they be with just one extra true world class player? Beckham is LA’s Thierry Henry so to speak. I doubt that without Becks that LA would have won their league. If they triumph thro the play offs it will be an amazing achievement.
Also the pic at the top of the article is slighty deceptive. Yep Becks had issues with the fans, but a few days ago they gave him a standing ovation..all is now good again. Even Landon Donovan wanted to kiss his Holy mouth.
Id have liked to have seen Becks at loan at United. What a weapon he would be for us, and an experienced campaigner. Still the best deliverer of a ball on the planet.
..and the fact that Darren Huckerby is the 12th best paid player in the US really is an indictment on your Soccer League…eek!!!
I don’t follow MLS enough to know what other forces may have been at play to see the Galaxy perform better so I can’t put an educated comment towards that. Fans are fickle and it’s week to week with Becks. Unlike Donovan, who is loved consistently.
The league is poor and will remain that way until money can pay more than 3 or 4 chosen few from each club. And even then, look at the numbers…European clubs can pay players in a week what MLS stars make in a year. I admire the guys who stay and try to make the league better; probably earning fractions of what they could elsewhere. However, are players like Landon doing the National team a dis-service in turn? Could he be even better if he played for a club elsewhere?
Beckham is good. But is he as good as an entire two other squad compiled together? 6.5 million….the sum of 36 other players salaries… Seems crazy to me.
The league is a hot mess.
If a decent team wanted Donovan next week he would run to them …literally! He wouldnt give two hoots about his domestic league. The structure of the MLS and its rules doesnt really help but i understand the way the ‘franchise’ system works in the US. I am thoroughly against wage capping, so that is a massive problem for the MLS..all this marquee player stuff is nonsense. Becks salary equaling 36 others is mad, but he will almost definitely bring in x100 the revenue and interest those guys do as a collective…so it is not disproportionate. I have seen kids in Manchester wearing Galaxy shirts because of Becks. No way would they have one without him. Its all about the money
I think Donovan could go back to play in Germany easily. A loan to Bayern Munich proves he can play there. I think his attachment to LA had something to do with his ex wife. Whhhhhipppppeed.
Oh and I don’t totally blame him.
http://www.wagrankings.com/images/wives/soccer/bianca_kajlich.jpg
I have a Beckham Galaxy shirt! And honestly admit I’d never even consider buying it had it not been for Beckham!
So while he makes a salary of 2 entire teams, the increase in profile for the MLS in general probably generates revenue they wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
I take the family to a few Galaxy matches a year and Donovan and Becks (with the quality and excitement they bring) are the only reason we go – LA is well-meaning but mediocre side without them. Would they be a technically-better team if they used Beck’s salary to buy better players? Yes but they become just another faceless MLS club.
If professional soccer is going to break out of the doldrums in this country, it’s going to be because it’s played at the highest level by inspiring players (even if recycled from other leagues). My sons are growing up watching the Prem, Serie A, etc. – they see the difference and won’t be satisfied with a pale imitation.
btw: Beckham came back from Milan far better/fitter/more motivated than when he left – you can see it on the pitch – so while the loan may have disappointed some of the fans, it’s made for improved football in LA. He received a hero’s welcome last saturday against SJ so all the initial turmoil (really just 2 small sections of hardcores) is over.
yeah as i thought El-Lay. thanks for your comments. Its good to get a perspective from a regular MLS attendee
The Galaxy have a decent squad, they’re weakest in the middle of the pitch defensively, Beckham is great as a central midfielder when the Galaxy have the ball, but when they’re defending he’s a bit lost. The Galaxy have in my opinion the 2 best young defenders in the MLS, Omar Gonzalez and Sean Franklin. I could see them moving to play in Europe in the next few years. My family has been season ticket holders before Beckham made the move to Los Angeles, and since then just having him present in the training ground has significantly improved the whole entire squad.