NEW YORK -- David Beckham no longer is Major League Soccer's
highest-paid player after his salary was cut nearly 40 percent in
his new contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
The former England captain has a base salary of $3 million this
year and guaranteed compensation of $4 million, according to
figures released Friday by the MLS Players Union. His previous base
salary had been $5.5 million with total annual compensation of $6.5
million under a $32.5 million, five-year contract that expired
after the 2011 season.
New York's Thierry Henry became the league's highest-paid
player, with a base salary of $5 million and total compensation of
$5.6 million.
Red Bulls teammate Rafa Marquez was second at $4.6 million total
compensation, followed by Beckham and Galaxy teammates Robbie Keane
($2,917,241 base, $3,417,243 total) and Landon Donovan ($2.4
million).
Toronto's Torsten Frings ($2 million, $2,413,667) and Julian de
Guzman ($1,863,996) were next. The only other million-dollar
players were Portland's Kris Boyd ($1.25 million, $1,515,00) and
Toronto's Danny Koevermans ($1.15 million, $1,563,323).
Other than Donovan, other players currently with the U.S.
national team include Real Salt Lake's Kyle Beckerman ($300,00,
$311,250) and Nick Rimando ($170,000, $178,250), Houston's Geoff
Cameron ($230,000, $255,000) and San Jose's Chris Wondolowski
($300,000).
American players of note include Philadelphia's Freddy Adu
($400,000, $519,000), New England's Benny Feilhaber ($400,000,
$446,000), Dallas' Brek Shea ($310,000, $354,000), New York's Heath
Pearce ($299,499, $301,999), Kansas City's Teal Bunbury ($100,000,
$198,000) and Chivas USA's Juan Agudelo ($70,000, $100,000)
Foreign players of interest include Seattle's Fredy Montero
($600,000, $756,000), Dallas' David Ferreira ($600,000, $705,000),
D.C. United's Dwayne De Rosario ($617,857, $663,191), Chivas USA's
Juan Pablo Angel ($350,000, $600,000), New England's Shalrie Joseph
($495,000, $554,333), and D.C. United's Branko Boskovic ($409,167,
$545,367).