Yesterday we covered the 30 highest paid players in Major League Soccer, according to the MLS Players Union. Today we will look at the five most underpaid players in the league. By underpaid, I don’t mean some rookie earning $18,000 a year. I mean someone who is in the upper echelon of players in MLS, but just isn’t paid like it. Source for this data is here.
Landon Donovan – $900,000.00
I am not a huge Landon Donovan fan, but with Beckham leaving, Donovan is probably the most talented player playing in MLS. Donovan had 20 goals in 25 games last season, so at $900,000.00 for the coming season, I think that LD is a bargain for the Galaxy.
Guillermo Barros Schelleto – $775,000.007
Received a nice pay as a reward for leading the Crew to the MLS Cup, but the bottom line is that the reason that Columbus won last year was because of Schelleto. His 19 assists on 43 Crew goals last season show how valuable the MVP was to Columbus.
Darren Huckerby – $385,000.00
Huckerby almost single-handed turn the San Jose Earthquakes season around. Despite playing in only 14 game she led all SJ players with 6 goals (and managed to add 4 assists also). Based on last season’s form, Huckerby should be at least a top ten player in terms of salary (he is currently 12th).
Sacha Kljestan – $203,000.00
Thirty-two others players in MLS stand to make more money this season than Kljestan. Last year was a breakout season for Kljestan, both for club and country. In only this third year in MLS, Kljestan was a member of the league’s Best XI, led Chivas USA in scoring, and was an All-Star. He is young, entertaining and creative and is probably the most underpaid player on the top 50 list.
Javier Morales – $200,000.00
If Kljestan is not the most underpaid player in MLS then that honor has to go to Morales. In the 2008 MLS regular season, he was second in the league for assists and instrumental in helping Real Salt Lake in their improbable late season charge.
Tomorrow we will look at the five most overpaid players in MLS.
