Atlanta United player payroll decreases again

Alexey Miranchuk, Atlanta United’s only Designated Player, also has the largest salary, according to information released by the Major League Soccer Players Association on Thursday.

Miranchuk, signed during the summer window, has an annualized guaranteed compensation of $3,685,441. Stian Gregersen has the next largest salary, $1,120,000.

The team’s 29 players have a guaranteed compensation of $15,230,938, a decrease of slightly more than $1.4 million from when salaries were released by the MLSPA in May. The salaries are through Sept. 13. The decrease can be attributed to the team selling Giorgos Giakoumakis, who had a guaranteed compensation of $2,248,417, and Thiago Almada, who had a guaranteed compensation of $2,232,000.

The team has a per-player average guaranteed compensation of $525,204.76. Its per-player average in May was $537,525.13, and it was $600,850 in September 2023.

MLSPA reported the guaranteed compensation for 910 players totaled $542,566,145, with a per-player average of $596,226.53. The total in May was $518,902,285, with a per-player average of $594,389.79.

Lionel Messi has the largest guaranteed compensation, at $20,446,667. Toronto’s Lorenzo Insigne is second, at $15.4 million, and another Miami player, Sergio Busquets, is third at $8,774,996.

The MLSPA releases the salary information twice a year.

The annual average guaranteed compensation is for players under contract as of April 25. It includes a player’s base salary and all signing and guaranteed bonuses annualized over the term of the player’s contract, including option years. For example, a player earning an annual base salary of $500,000, whose contract has an initial term of two years with two one-year options and received a $100,000 signing bonus, has an average annual guaranteed compensation of $525,000 (base salary plus signing bonus ($100,000), with the signing bonus divided by the number of years covered by the contract (four).

The average annual guaranteed compensation figure also includes any marketing bonus and any agent’s fees, both annualized over the length of the contract. The figure does not include performance bonuses because there is no guarantee that the player will hit those bonuses. These figures include compensation from each player’s contract with MLS. They do not include any compensation from any contracts with individual teams or their affiliates.

Player/Base salary/Guaranteed compensation/Increase (or decrease) from Sept. 23/Year guaranteed contract runs out/Option years

Alexey Miranchuk/$2,400,000/$3,685,441/NA/2027/2028

Stian Gregersen/1,000,000/1,120,000/NA/2027/2028

Saba Lobjanidze/900,000/998,750/(1,152,000)/2026/None

Luis Abram/732,275/871,888/175,911/2025/2026

Bartosz Slisz/630,000/830,000/NA/2028/None

Santiago Sosa/685,000/778,100/85,0000/2024/2025

Brooks Lennon/740,000/740,000/40,000/2025/2026

Franco Ibarra/600,000/660,000/40,000//2024/2025*

Brad Guzan/600,000/612,500/0/2024/2025

Xande Silva/560,000/604,250/79,750/2025/2026

Jamal Thiare/500,000/595,000/(477,679)/2024/2025

Tristan Muyumba/525,000/566,600/75,000/2026/2027

Ronald Hernández/450,000/450,000/75,000/2024/2025

Derrick Williams/400,000/447,500/NA/2025/2026

Edwin Mosquera/400,000/437,000/25,000/2026/None

Josh Cohen/265,000/303,500/NA/2025/2026

Dax McCarty/225,000/256,250/NA/2024/2025

Pedro Amador/207,000/242,612/NA/

Tyler Wolff/150,000/154,500/30,000/2024/2025

Daniel Rios/$89,716/126,383/NA/2024/None

Quentin Westberg/89,716/109,716/(90,284)/2024/None

Efraín Morales/89,716/97,735/12,291/2024/2026

Erik Centeno/89,716/96,492/17,356/2024/2026

Noah Cobb/89,716/89,716/22,356/2026/2027

Nic Firmino/71,401/71,401/NA/2024/2026

Luke Brennan/71,401/71,401/NA/2027/2028

Ajani Fortune/71,401/71,401/4,041/2024/2026

Adyn Torres/71,401,71,401/NA/2027/2028

Matthew Edwards/71,401/71,401/NA/2025/2027

* On loan and not on Atlanta United’s first team in May

^ Sold with Atlanta United team paying portion of the salary

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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule

Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0

March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1

March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0

March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0

March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0

April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1

April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2

April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1

April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1

May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1

May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in U.S. Open Cup