Kaka tops MLS salaries for 3rd straight year; Giovinco next

BETHESDA: Orlando's Kaka is Major League Soccer's highest-paid player for the third straight season, just ahead of Toronto's Sebastian Giovinco, and German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has a $5.4 million salary in his first year with the Chicago Fire.

Kaka, a Brazilian midfielder in his third season with Orlando, has a $6.6 million base salary this year, according to figures released Tuesday by the MLS Players Union. Including a prorated share of compensation not specified to a specific year, Kaka's total earnings are $7,167,500.

Giovinco, the Italian forward who joined Toronto in 2015, has a $5.6 million salary and $7,115,556 in total compensation, followed by Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley, the US national team captain ($6 million salary, $6.5 million total compensation).

New York City midfielder Andrea Pirlo ($5.6 million, $5,915,960) and his teammate forward David Villa ($5.61 million) were next, followed by Los Angeles Galaxy forward Giovani Dos Santos ($3.75 million, $5.5 million), Schweinsteiger, Toronto forward Jozy Altidore ($4,875,000), Seattle forward Clint Dempsey ($3.2 million, $3,892,934), Portland midfielder Diego Valeri ($2,227,500, $2,607,500) and Colorado goalkeeper Tim Howard ($2 million, $2,475,000).

Twenty-eight players have total compensation of $1 million or more, an increase of five from the initial list last year.

Others include Atlanta midfielder Miguel Almiron ($2,297,000), New York City midfielder Maxi Moralez ($2 million), Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan ($1,973,750), Chicago forward Nemanja Nikolic ($1,906,333), Vancouver forward Fredy Montero ($1.8 million), Seattle midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro ($1,743,429), Portland forward Fanendo Adi ($1,736,254), Colorado forward Shkelzen Gashi ($1,668,750), New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips ($1,635,000), Philadelphia midfielder Alejandro Bedoya ($1,197,250), Seattle midfielder Osvaldo Alonso ($1,141,667), Portland midfielder Sebastian Blanco ($1,075,008), Columbus midfielder Federico Higuain ($1.05 million), Colorado forward Kevin Doyle ($1,045,000), Atlanta forward Josef Martinez ($1,041,310) and Portland forward Lucas Melano ($1.01 million).