MLS Team Salaries: Philadelphia Union payroll increases by .5 percent

Sporting Director Ernst Tanner knew when he took over the job last fall that he wouldn’t see a significant increase in the money available for player acquisitions and salaries.

The MLS Players Association’s release of salaries on Wednesday gives a better picture into how he’s worked with the salary budget set by chairman and majority owner Jay Sugarman.

Tanner found some savings by paying fewer players — the first team roster has gone from 29 to 26 players — and shaved about $2 million in salaries from dealing Keegan Rosenberry, CJ Sapong and David Accam on top of the savings from shedding about $1.3 million from players who weren’t retained from last season’s roster.

Additions included the highest paid player in team history in Marco Fabián, who is making $2,275,087 in guaranteed compensation, the now third highest paid player on the team in Sergio Santos at $668,500, Jamiro Monteiro at $569,200, Kai Wagner at $360,150, Aurelien Collin at $175,000, Carlos Miguel Coronel at $148,425 and Brenden Aaronson at $95,809 in guaranteed compensation. The most recent acquisition, Michee Ngalina, is at the bottom of the pay scale at $56,250.

Hefty raises were given to Jack Elliott, who recently signed a new contract, and Kacper Przybylko, who did not play in his limited time with the team last season.

Elliott received a $205,371 raise from $59,629.50 last season to $265,000 and Przybylko saw a slightly bigger increase from $67,500 to $277,000. Auston Trusty ($109,100 to $124,100) and Mark McKenzie ($64,500.04 to $82,225) both saw bumps in pay while veterans Aurelien Collin ($450,000 to $175,000) and Fabinho ($153,000 to $120,000) accepted pay cuts.

Overall, the team’s payroll saw an increase of .5 percent or $45,023.40 from $8,914,581.59 in October to $8,959,605.

Fabián, who has been limited to just eight appearances and six starts because of injury and a two-game red card suspension early in the season, is the 17th highest player in the league. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the highest paid player in the league at $7.2 million, followed by the team-less Giovani dos Santos at $6.5 and Michael Bradley at $6.4 million.

A couple things worth noting: Derrick Jones’ trade to Nashville SC (for $175,000 in general allocation money) won’t kick in until January 2020 so his $80,900 guaranteed compensation is still listed with the Philadelphia Union. He’s currently on loan with Nashville SC in the USL Championship.

Charlie Lyon, the MLS pool goalkeeper who spent a few weeks with the Union but did not appear in a game, is making $70,250 in guaranteed compensation. The full salary list is available on the MLSPA website.