MLS salaries revealed: Xherdan Shaqiri tops list of big earners with bumper Chicago Fire deal

While his old club Liverpool battle to finish in first place in the Premier League, Xherdan Shaqiri is top of the money tree in Major League Soccer with the Chicago Fire.

Switzerland international Shaqiri is the highest-earning player in the US-centred top flight, new figures released on Tuesday by the MLS Players’ Association (MLSPA) revealed.

The 30-year-old is on a base annual salary of $7.35million, with guaranteed compensation of $8.15million.

Shaqiri left Liverpool at the end of last season to join French club Lyon, but he spent less than six months in Ligue 1 before being signed as a designated player by Chicago in February.

He became the Fire’s most expensive acquisition, reportedly costing €6.5million ($7.5million), and was described by Chicago sporting director Georg Heitz as “a game-changing player”.

The club’s new number 10 has scored two goals and had three assists in nine games to date for Chicago.

On the money list, he sits ahead of LA Galaxy’s former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward Javier Hernandez ($6million base salary) and Inter Miami’s Gonzalo Higuain ($5.1million), another Madrid old boy.

In 2022, the Average Base Salary for Senior Roster Non-Designated Players experienced double digit growth from $397,753 in 2021  $438,728 in 2022.

This marks the 11th consecutive year of growth.  pic.twitter.com/Nv5gU8I2gU

— MLSPA (@MLSPA) May 17, 2022

Top five highest base salary earners in MLS, according to MLSPA (players under contract on April 15 2022):

1. Xherdan Shaqiri, Chicago Fire, $7.35million ($8.15million guaranteed compensation)
2. Javier Hernandez, LA Galaxy, $6million ($6million guaranteed)
3. Gonzalo Higuain, Inter Miami, $5.1million ($5.79million guaranteed)
4. Alejandro Pozuelo, Toronto FC, $3.8million ($4.69million guaranteed)
5. Josef Martinez, Atlanta United, $3.7million ($4.14million guaranteed)