MLS Players Union releases LAFC’s 2018 player salary information

An annual ritual in MLS took place on Thursday, as the MLS Players Union released the 2018 salary information for all players.

The Union, which releases salary information twice a season, obviously included Los Angeles Football Club in the release.

With a full roster this time around, this is our first opportunity to see the figures, per the union.

MLS Players Union

MLS Players Union

MLS Players Union

A few quick observations:

• Carlos Vela is by far the highest paid player on the team, as expected. His total compensation is over $6.2 million, which puts him as the third-highest player in MLS right now, behind only Sebastian Giovinco and Michael Bradley.
• The next highest paid players on the team are Diego Rossi, who is making just over $1 million, and newest signing Adama Diomandé, who will be making just under a million.
• A couple names on the list may be puzzling, as goalkeeper Quillan Roberts and midfielder Steeve Saint-Duc are both listed, even though neither has ever been officially announced as LAFC signings. Going to presume that they’re both under contract to MLS, but both players are internationals (Roberts is Canadian, Saint-Duc is Haitian) and the absolute logjam there means they aren’t going to be on the roster barring major issues. This is not uncommon in MLS, players sometimes hang out on these salary releases long after they’ve been waived, and occasionally despite never being signed, but the latter option is somewhat more unusual.
• Latif Blessing, Mark-Anthony Kaye and Tyler Miller are major values, as all have been starters and earn less than $100,000. Aside from the fact that they have four goalkeepers listed here, that position is where the value is overall, as only Luis Lopez is earning over $100,000 in total compensation, and by MLS standards, even he isn’t making a lot.
• Steven Beitashour is missing from the screenshots above: He’s on $275,000.04 base pay and $298,375.04 total comp.

We’ll have more thoughts about the salary information to come. For now, what do you think? Leave a comment below!