David Beckham has yet to play a single minute this MLS season, but the former Manchester United midfielder is still the highest paid player in the American league this season.
Sir Goldenballs topped the annual list with an estimated total contract worth of $6.5 million and the LA Galaxy man hopes to return to the pitch soon enough for a postseason MLS Cup run following that painful knee injury the Englishman suffered on a non-contact play last Serie A season while on loan with AC Milan.
And the well known international icon is in good company on the list considering he is joined by two famous new boys to the league. French national team icon Thierry Henry finished in second place for highest paid player with a projected total of $5.6 million this season. And in third place would be Henry’s new teammate and current Mexico captain Rafael Marquez who is projected to earn $5.54 million by the end of his first MLS season.
Marquez’s Mexico teammate Nery Castillo, who recently joined the Chicago Fire on loan, finished in fourth place with an overall value of $1.79 million. So in other words of the four highest paid players in the league none started on opening day of the season and three of the players were not even listed on an MLS club prior to the start of the World Cup.
And was the contract invested in David Beckham a good idea for the MLS or has the Englishman taken advantage of the desperate league’s push for more stars?
I’m sure the move didn’t hurt Henry and Marquez from following suit, but with zero championships won during his time in the league perhaps luring aging star players or spending large sums of money in general isn’t the cure to all of the league’s problems.
But I’m sure Beckham doesn’t mind receiving the weekly paycheck…
photo credit: Axel Schwenke