Gareth Bale earns a fraction of what fellow former Premier League players Xherdan Shaqiri and Javier Hernandez earn in Major League Soccer.
Bale signed a one-year contract with Los Angeles FC in the summer after his contract with Real Madrid expired. The 33-year-old forward joined MLS after being widely linked with a move to Cardiff City, and his decision drew widespread criticism.
Some supporters accused the former Tottenham Hotspur player of choosing the easy way out of a pay check rather than competing in a top European league. Bale has scored two goals in 12 MLS matches for LAFC so far, and his salary in California has finally been revealed.
Bale is undeniably one of the biggest stars in American soccer, but his pay does not reflect this.
On Monday, MLS released a list of salary for players signed to teams before September 2, with Bale ranked 23rd, far behind Shaqiri, Hernandez, and other well-known names like Federico Bernardeschi, Douglas Costa, and Gonzalo Higuain.
Even ex-Premier League stars Jozy Altidore and Victor Wanyama earn more than Bale’s $1,600,000 (£1,420,640) salary, which increases to $2,386,667 (£2,119,121) when guaranteed incentives and contract option years are factored in.
The figures do not include performance bonuses, which means Bale might be paid more based on his success on the field.
Lorenzo Insigne, who moved from Napoli to Toronto in the summer, is by far the highest-paid player in the league. The Italian forward earns a stunning $14,000,000 (£12,369,630) per year, nearly double what former Liverpool midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri earns at Chicago Fire ($7,350,000).
Hernandez, a former Manchester United striker, earns $6,000,000 at the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Bale has previously denied suggestions he joined LAFC purely for financial reasons. “There was a reason I wanted to go to LAFC, they are a club that is really on the rise and is going places,” he said in September.
“It was a project I wanted to be a part of. This is a new challenge with a new club and new team and it gives you that freshness again about football. One I am enjoying and one hopefully I will continue to enjoy.”
