adminTEENAGE Hadebe cracked the US$1m mark, in terms of earning, in Major League Soccer this year.
That is according to the latest update by the MLS Players Association, which was released on Monday.
Hadebe is one of the stars of Houston Dynamo who failed to make the play-offs.
The club was one of the 10 teams which invested the biggest chunk of money into player salaries this season.
Hector Herrera, Tim Parker and Sebastien Ferreira are some of the Dynamo players with earnings above the US$1 million mark.
Herrera is the highest earning player at the club on US$5.2m per year while Hadebe is on US$1.1m a year.
The amount doesn’t include performance bonuses.
The Warriors star scored twice this season and represented his club in 23 matches.
The MLS Players Association published its latest round of salary data this week, giving us an updated look at teams’ payrolls after the summer transfer window closed.
While Philadelphia Union only made a few small midseason signings, other teams around the league made big splashes.
Topping the list is Toronto FC, which is paying Italian veteran Lorenzo Insigne the biggest salary by far in MLS history – US$14.1 million per year.
Not only is it the first salary in league history to top US$10 million, but it’s nearly US$6 million higher than the previous record set by Chicago’s Xherdan Shaquiri at the start of this year (US$8.15 million).
Another Toronto newcomer from Italy draws the league’s fourth-biggest paycheck.
Former Juventus winger Federico Bernardeschi is set for nearly US$6.3 million in guaranteed compensation, which unusually is nearly double his base salary of US$3.1 million.
Insigne and Bernardeschi’s combined guaranteed compensation of US$20,256,322 is bigger than the entire payrolls of 23 of Major League Soccer’s 27 teams – and Insigne alone tops nine.
Toronto isn’t the only team that splashed the cash this summer. Los Angeles FC made four big signings.
Welsh star Gareth Bale (US$2.39 million salary), French striker Denis Bouanga (US$2.08 million), Spanish midfielder Cristian Tello (US$1.73 million), and famed Italian centre back Giorgio Chiellini (US$1.08 million).
Across town, the Los Angeles Galaxy signed veteran Brazilian Douglas Costa for good after a six-month loan, gave him a raise from US$3 million to US$5.8 million, then watched him bank just four goals and one assist this year.
But the club got another big move right, as former Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig (US$1.695 million) sparked a run to the playoffs.
D.C. United, under new manager Wayne Rooney, agreed to pay Belgian striker Christian Benteke US$4.18 million. Fellow underperformer Houston is paying Mexican national team stalwart Héctor Herrera US$5.25 million. – Sports Reporter/The Philadelphia Inquirer
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter