16 May 2023 , 19:10
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The salaries of the highest paid MLS stars were made public on Tuesday, and amongst the top earners there are some very familiar names.
MLS remains the fastest growing football league in the world, and a whole host of stars continue to migrate from Europe as players want a piece of the action. In recent years the likes of Gareth Bale, Giorgio Chiellini and Lorenzo Insigne have all signed for MLS teams, but players of that stature don't come cheaply.
There may have been a recent drop off in star MLS players that formerly succeeded in Europe, with Bale retiring and former Manchester United players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Nani moving back overseas. But there's still some eye-watering salaries for those that have remained, with former Liverpool star Xherdan Shaqiri the top earner for the 2023 season.
Shaqiri joined Chicago Fire back in 2022, and the Switzerland winger will earn £6.53million ($8.15m) for the 2023 season. His salary makes up almost half of the entire roster, and Shaqiri is the only MLS star being paid more than Euro 2020 winner Insigne.
Insigne left Napoli to join Toronto in 2022 after spending his entire career in the south of Italy, signing an astronomical deal in the process to move to Canada. The structure of Insigne's deal saw him become the top earner last season, but this time around he will pocket £6m ($7.5m).
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Just behind the European Championship winner is former United star Javier Hernandez, who continues to be the main man for LA Galaxy. The Mexican is earning £5.97m ($7.45m) this season, although he's had a slow start to the campaign with just the one goal in six games.
Chicharito is the third highest earning MLS star for the 2023 season (Shaun Clark/Getty Images)Behind Hernandez is another Toronto star, as the Canadian side have invested heavily in their Italian players in the hopes of winning their second MLS Cup. Following the success of club-record scorer Giovinco, Toronto went back to Juventus to sign Federico Bernardeschi - offering him £5m ($6.3m) this season.
Bernardeschi has three goals and two assists in 12 MLS games so far this season, as Toronto continue to struggle despite going all out for the European stars. Toronto are dead last in the Eastern Conference, with just two wins all season.
Making up the top five is Austin FC star Sebastian Driussi, who is still only 27 and remains one of the best talents across the league. Druissi will earn £4.8m ($6m) this season, after scoring 25 MLS goals in 37 games during the previous campaign.
Highest MLS earners:
1) Xherdan Shaqiri £6.53m
2) Lorenzo Insigne £6m
3) Javier Hernandez £5.97m
4) Federico Bernardeschi £5m
5) Sebastian Druissi £4.8m
6) Hector Herrera £3.35m
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7) Douglas Costa £3.3m
8) Luiz Araujo £3.2m
9) Christian Benteke £3.15m
10) Josef Martinez £3.1m