How much money every Vancouver Whitecaps player will make in 2021

May 14 2021, 12:58 am

No team in Major League Soccer is spending less on its players this season than the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Whitecaps are spending just $8.7 million on players as of April 15, according the 2021 salary guide released by the MLS Players Association today.

That ranks Vancouver dead last in MLS, and is less than half of what the highest-spending team, Inter Miami, is paying.

To be fair, this year that’s somewhat understandable.

While American teams in MLS are now able to host fans again, at limited capacity, the Whitecaps aren’t generating any ticket revenue for their “home” games in Sandy, Utah. On the other hand, Toronto FC and CF Montreal are in similar predicaments, yet rank second and 11th in payroll, respectively.

The Whitecaps weren’t a big spender prior to the pandemic, ranking dead-last in player salaries in 2019.

While the Whitecaps aren’t shelling out big bucks on current salaries, they were the top-spending team in Concacaf on the transfer market in 2020 — a product of building a young team.

Here’s a look at how each team in MLS ranks, sorted by total guaranteed compensation.

Team Payroll
Inter Miami $17.80M
Toronto FC $17.01M
LA Galaxy $16.84M
Atlanta United $16.18M
FC Cincinnati $15.5M
Los Angeles FC $14.93M
Chicago Fire $13.63M
Columbus Crew $13.5M
Sporting KC $13.46M
New York City FC $12.99M
CF Montreal $12.64M
Seattle Sounders $12.16M
Portland Timbers $11.94M
Nashville SC $11.51M
New England Revolution $11.41M
Orlando City SC $11.33M
FC Dallas $10.66M
Real Salt Lake $10.52M
Minnesota United $10.45M
DC United $10.32M
New York Red Bulls $10.17M
San Jose Earthquakes $10.15M
Colorado Rapids $10.06M
Houston Dynamo $9.53M
Philadelphia Union $9.34M
Austin FC $9.14M
Vancouver Whitecaps $8.70M

The Whitecaps have had good bang for their buck so far this year, securing two wins and a draw in their first five matches. That’s even more impressive when you consider their second-highest paid player, Ali Adnan, hasn’t played once due to visa issues.

Their top centre back and fourth-highest paid player, Erik Godoy, has also yet to play.

Canadian striker Lucas Cavallini is the team’s top earner, pulling in over $1.36 million in guaranteed compensation this season. Adnan is the only other millionaire on the squad, as the Iraqi left back is due over $1.22 million.

The most underpaid player on the team might be Maxime Crepeau, as the Whitecaps goalkeeper ranks 11th in guaranteed compensation at $277,500.

Name Position Base
salary (USD)
Guaranteed
compensation (USD)
Lucas Cavallini F $1,100,000 $1,362,500
Ali Adnan D $1,149,996 $1,227,496
Caio Alexandre M $500,000 $539,583
Erik Godoy D $450,000 $450,000
Cristian Dajome F $400,000 $447,917
Ranko Veselinovic D $360,000 $445,500
Leonard Owusu M $350,000 $401,250
Janio Bikel M $350,000 $388,750
Russell Teibert M $350,000 $387,500
Deiber Caicedo M-F $300,000 $331,125
Maxime Crepeau GK $250,000 $277,500
Jake Nerwinski D $255,000 $270,000
Jasser Khmiri D $240,000 $240,000
Bruno Gaspar D $200,000 $233,333
Cristian Gutierrez D $150,000 $167,500
Tosaint Ricketts F $160,000 $165,000
Derek Cornelius D $127,050 $139,001
Andy Rose M $132,000 $132,000
Evan Newton GK $95,000 $104,802
Ryan Raposo M $90,000 $104,000
Michael Baldisimo M $89,513 $91,275
Thelonius Bair F $81,375 $81,375
Simon Colyn M $81,375 $81,375
Thomas Hasal GK $81,375 $81,375
Kamron Habibullah M-F $63,547 $74,429
Damiano Pecile M $66,724 $72,818
Matteo Campagna D-M $63,547 $72,559
Gianfranco Facchineri D $66,724 $68,724
Isaac Boehmer GK $66,724 $66,724
Patrick Metcalfe M $66,724 $66,724
Javain Brown D $63,547 $63,547
David Egbo F $63,547 $63,547

While Cavallini is the highest paid player on the Whitecaps, he doesn’t come close to the richest players in the league, as he ranks 40th in guaranteed compensation.

The highest-paid players in MLS are Carlos Vela of LAFC ($6.3M), Javier Hernandez of LA Galaxy ($6M), Gonzalo Higuain of Inter Miami ($5.79M), and Alejandro Pozuelo of Toronto FC ($4.69M).

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