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For the first time since 2019, we have Sporting Kansas City and Major League Soccer (MLS) salary data. In the pandemic shortened 2020, salary data was never released. The last time data came out was the end of 2019, before Sporting KC signed many of the players currently on their roster including Alan Pulido, Gadi Kinda, Roberto Puncec, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin and Remi Walter.
Among that list are a couple millionaires (Pulido and Isi) and a player who is now making over a million per season because of annual raises (Ilie Sanchez). We can also see substantial raises for returning player Khiry Shelton ($650,000 now versus $119,745 back in 2018).
Also earning a big raise is Daniel Salloi, who is now making $456,667 compared to just $139,624.96 in 2019. One has to think that was worked out before the slumps of 2019 and 2020 took hold, possibly back when they guaranteed his contract following his 2018 SKC Golden Boot winning season.
There are lots of data points to parse and bits of information to break down like who are the best deals and who is being overpaid. That will come soon, but let’s learn the new player salaries that we didn’t know and then dive into the full dataset.
Below is compensation in the form of base salary and guaranteed compensation (which includes any pro-rated bonuses). For the purpose of these and other stories, we’ll focus on the guaranteed compensation. Here are the big new players to the team over the last two years and their respective guaranteed compensation.
- Alan Pulido - $2,200,000
- Nicolas Isimat-Mirin - $1,028,124
- Gadi Kinda - $918,000
- Khiry Shelton - $650,000
- Remi Walter - $650,000
- Roberto Puncec - $575,000
Most of the Homegrowns who signed are at or near the minimum and salaries weren’t listed for Kaveh Rad or Kayden Pierre, but it’s likely the same for them.
Here is the full release for Sporting KC.
Early 2021 Sporting KC Salaries
| First Name | Last Name | Position(s) | Base Salary | Guaranteed Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Name | Last Name | Position(s) | Base Salary | Guaranteed Compensation |
| Alan | Pulido Izaguirre | F | $2,200,000.00 | $2,200,000.00 |
| Johnny | Russell | F | $1,600,000.00 | $1,600,000.00 |
| Andreu | Fontas | D | $1,125,000.00 | $1,125,000.00 |
| Nicolas | Isimat-Mirin | D | $950,000.00 | $1,028,124.00 |
| Ilie | Sanchez | M | $1,000,000.00 | $1,000,000.00 |
| Gadi | Kinda | M | $850,000.00 | $918,000.00 |
| Graham | Zusi | D | $650,000.00 | $713,333.00 |
| Khiry | Shelton | F | $650,000.00 | $650,000.00 |
| Remi | Walter | M | $650,000.00 | $650,000.00 |
| Roberto | Puncec | D | $575,000.00 | $575,000.00 |
| Tim | Melia | GK | $500,000.00 | $504,167.00 |
| Roger | Espinoza | M | $500,000.00 | $500,000.00 |
| Daniel | Salloi | F | $400,000.00 | $456,667.00 |
| Luis | Martins | D | $340,000.00 | $340,000.00 |
| Amadou | Dia | D | $135,000.00 | $135,000.00 |
| Gianluca | Busio | M | $125,004.00 | $127,504.00 |
| Tyler | Freeman | F | $95,000.00 | $97,500.00 |
| Kendall | McIntosh | GK | $96,375.00 | $96,375.00 |
| Jaylin | Lindsey | D | $91,547.00 | $94,547.00 |
| Graham | Smith | D | $85,444.00 | $85,444.00 |
| Cameron | Duke | M | $81,375.00 | $84,375.00 |
| Felipe | Hernandez | M | $81,375.00 | $81,375.00 |
| Wilson | Harris | F | $67,360.00 | $71,212.00 |
| John | Pulskamp | GK | $67,360.00 | $69,860.00 |
| Grayson | Banks Barber | F | $63,547.00 | $67,297.00 |
| Osvaldo | Cisneros | M-F | $63,547.00 | $66,547.00 |
| Parker | Siegfried | GK | $63,547.00 | $63,547.00 |
| Brooks | Thompson | GK | $63,547.00 | $63,547.00 |