The 10 highest-paid players in MLS history

Lorenzo Insigne will reportedly become the highest-paid player in MLS history when he joins Toronto FC in July, earning a tidy $12.42million a year. But who are the current top 10 highest-paid players in the league’s history?

For a long time, MLS had a reputation as a pre-retirement sojourn destination for big European stars. And although that has changed somewhat in recent years, many of the biggest earners in the 26 years of the competition have fallen into that category.

Here, we take a look at the 10 best-paid MLS players ever, using numbers from Capology that take into account only the players’ base salaries.

That means there’s no room for David Beckham, who, according to Forbes, pocketed $250million in total in the States, most of which was from lucrative sponsorships and the percentage of LA Galaxy revenue he earned during his time at the club. Other big names like Andrea Pirlo and Sebastian Giovinco also missed out.

So who does make the cut? Well, have a look here.

10. David Villa – $5.61million

A bona fide legend of Spanish football, Villa moved to New York City FC after wonderful spells at Valencia, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, during which he won three La Liga titles, a Champions League, two Copas del Rey and a smattering of super cups.

Having also lifted the World Cup and European Championship as part of that brilliant Spain team of the late noughties and early tens, it’s little wonder NYCFC were willing to splash out to bring him in.

He gave them a healthy return on their investment, too, scoring 80 times in 126 games in North America.

=6. Jermain Defoe – $6.00million

The first of three Englishman on this list, Defoe was also one of the most expensive singings in MLS history when he joined Toronto FC in 2014.

It did not work out.

Defoe got off to a good start, scoring 12 goals in his first 21 games. But injury halted his progress and he subsequently fell out with the Toronto hierarchy.

“I personally don’t think Defoe will come back,” said Toronto FC president Tim Leiweke while Defoe was recovering. “If he doesn’t want to be here, you get rid of him. If you don’t want to be here, get the hell out of our way.”

Defoe did just that, returning to England with Sunderland a year and six days after he’d left Spurs.

READ: The 10 most expensive signings in MLS history – & how they fared

=6. Michael Bradley – $6.00million

Bradley signed for the same club as Defoe for exactly the same fee on exactly the same wages…