After an early leak on Wednesday, the MLS Player’s Association released its spring salary guide, and Giorgos Giakoumakis is Atlanta United’s highest-paid player with a guaranteed compensation of just a shade over $2.248 million. That’s a few thousand more than Thiago Almada’s $2.232 million budget charge.
All told, Atlanta United’s salary budget is $15,135,463. That’s not counting players on loan and the cap hit the club carries after trading Derrick Etienne to Toronto FC. Let’s break it down:
As far as the new signings, DP center back Stian Gregersen is on $1.12 million, while Bartosz Slisz’s guaranteed compensation is at $830,000. Saba Lobjanidze, whose budget charge was prorated at $2,150,750, was bought down with TAM in the offseason (as planned) to just under $1 million, freeing a DP slot up for Gregersen. Dax McCarty will be paid $256,250, down from the $302,500 he made in his last year with Nashville SC. Josh Cohen comes in at just above $300,000.
Two players still partially on the books for Atlanta United: Franco Ibarra, on loan at Rosario Central, and Santiago Sosa, loaned to River Plate. Collectively, their number is $1.378 million, so while Atlanta is getting some relief there from Rosario and River Plate, that’s still a big number.
Also a big number: Etienne’s total compensation for 2024 ($710,062), which puts a failed signing into further perspective. Atlanta didn’t get complete relief from the return they got when trading him to Toronto FC for $200,000 (2025 GAM, which could grow to $375,000), but it’s better than nothing.
How can Atlanta United free up cap space?
They aren’t in the cap jail they previously found themselves in, but there are still a number of bloated contracts on the books for Atlanta United.
Luis Abram, $871,888. Abram, the fifth-highest paid player on the team, was thought to be a starter at CB when he was signed on a TAM contract last season. When Williams emerged as Gregersen’s partner in the pairing at the start of 2024, and with the emergence of Noah Cobb following the Williams injury, the Peruvian international became expendable. That’s not to mention Efrain Morales waiting in the wings. Abram’s surely on borrowed time and should have some suitors in the summer.
Ronald Hernandez, $450,000. He’s played in three games this season while starting one. Needless to say, $450K is a ton of money for a backup, and is more than what Derrick Williams, a starter at center back with Gregersen before getting injured, is making ($400K).
Edwin Mosquera, $437,000. He’s probably the most polarizing out of the players I’ve mentioned already. MLS adding a fourth U-22 slot in the summer probably works to his advantage with Ibarra and Sosa still holding slots, but right now your wing depth chart has Xande Silva-Saba Lobjanidze at the top and (when healthy) Tyler Wolff as your first option off the bench. Atlanta could do with getting Mosquera off the books, but the fact that his U-22 status means he doesn’t have much of that a budget hit.
Lionel Messi salary at Inter Miami revealed
The big question on everyone’s minds was how much Lionel Messi is making at Inter Miami, and now we know: his guaranteed compensation is $20,446,667, supplanting Lorenzo Insigne ($15.4 million) as the highest-paid player in MLS.
The other three members of Miami’s Big Four (if you will) of Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suarez make a collective $11.7 million, most of it pocketed by Busquets (nearly $8.8 million). Alba and Suarez are on $1.5 million, but it’s worth noting that both are TAM players; Leo Campana is a DP but could be bought down from his $722,333 salary figure to below the DP threshold of $683,750…could another big name be on the way to South Florida?
Highest paid MLS players in 2024
- Lionel Messi, Inter Miami: $20,446,667
- Lorenzo Insigne, Toronto FC: $15,400,000
- Sergio Busquets, Inter Miami: $8,774,996
- Xherdan Shaqiri, Chicago Fire FC: $8,153,000
- Sebastian Driussi, Austin FC: $6,722,000
- Federico Bernadeschi, Toronto FC: $6,295,381
- Emil Forsberg, New York Red Bulls: $6,035,625
- Hector Herrera, Houston Dynamo FC: $5,246,875
- Hany Mukhtar, Nashville SC: $5,211,667
- Carles Gil, New England Revolution: $4,452,083
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[…] Giakoumakis’ contract expires in 2025, but Atlanta has an option for 2026. According to the MLSPA salary guide, he will make $2.248 million in 2024, making him the club’s highest-paid player. As Felipe […]
It’s great when there’s 100% fan and ownership alignment. This roster/spend level suggests that Uncle Arthur’s interest in Atlanta United has dwindled as much as mine has.
I seem to be the only person here who remembers this. Everybody else is all “Garth Lagerway is going to save us all!” When Garth took the job in Nov. 2022, he gave a big press interview. I’m honestly not aware of him ever talking to the press after that. But he clearly said he was going to slash the budget here and that was a big goal of his. Also according to Garth, Almada will be the last big spend on a young player.
Uncle Arthur’s interest has most definitely dwindled, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. When he has interfered with the Falcons, the outcomes have almost always been really bad. But yeah, he is totally obsessed with “helping” the Falcons to win a Super Bowl before he rings up the curtain and joins the Choir Invisible, as John Cleese put it.
I remember. Garth’s hiring did not excite me. I realized then and there the swing for the fences days were over. I also realized – or thought – this meant we’d be consistently good and maybe great every four or five years. As I recall, he said as much when he got here. So far, that part ain’t working out.
I feel like the fact that it came so easy so early gave the FO this false sense that they could flip all these players while also be a championship contender every year.
We’re in such a good spot financially. Abram is probably not worth 800k, but outside of that we’re golden. Having Saba at 900k is a steal.
If payroll was a perfect predictor of quality (which we all know it isnt), then we should be a mid table team or slightly below, depending on how other teams adjust for loans and such.
Our payroll feels like my own salary (and im sure what many others may feel). Its improving but not keeping up with the “cost of living”. Which in this case is everyone else’s payroll.
We keep talking about trimming the fat (as we should), but replacing the fat with above average “good value” players will only get us so far.