Zlatan Sets MLS Record With His Salary

Most of the time you need to pay over the odds in the world of football in order to secure the biggest and best players, and in equal measure, secure the best results. Those two things don’t always come together as a pairing, but when they do, it’s pretty special.

LA Galaxy is one of the biggest and best franchises in the MLS, and that’s been the case for a long time now. However, the acquisition of Zlatan Ibrahimovic really did take them to a whole new level.

A league of his own

The Swede just seemed to bring the very best out of every single player around him, which is an attribute that he has possessed throughout the course of his storied career. In the present day he’s attempting to guide the Galaxy back to another MLS Cup, and while that’s going to be tricky, he’s certainly being paid handsomely for the honour.

As reported by Bleacher Report and Goal, Zlatan has set a new salary record for Major League Soccer this season due to his wage of $7.2 million. That puts him about Giovani dos Santos who is situated in second placed with $6.5 million, with the top ten being rounded off by Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Carlos Vela, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ignacio Piatti, Alejandro Pozuelo Melero, Wayne Rooney and Josef Martinez. P.S: isn’t it crazy that Rooney is so far down the list?

As one of Galaxy’s three designated players, Ibrahimovic is permitted to earn about the salary cap, which was a rule that was introduced when David Beckham first came over to the United States. Non-designated players earn an average of $345,867 a year which is still a pretty nice figure, but of course, it pales in comparison to the big dogs.

Making the necessary moves

“We are encouraged by the continued salary growth that has occurred over each of the last five years. As the league grows and revenues increase, it’s critical that we see this kind of continued investment in player compensation up and down the roster.

“Players are the heart of MLS, and if MLS is to become the league of choice that it aspires to be, it needs to keep pace in an increasingly competitive market for players, both domestic and international. We feel good about these trends, and we expect to see them continue.” Those are the words of MLSPA executive director Bob Foose.

When you really think about the journey Major League Soccer has been on over the course of the last few years, it really does make you wonder what is going to happen in the next decade or so. Things are going to keep developing at a rate that most of us can’t even fathom, to the point where we’re confident in saying that the MLS will be considered one of the biggest leagues in the world sooner rather than later.

If nothing else, this will surely continue to encourage big foreign names to take the jump and make a switch over into the MLS world.