The LAFC and LA Galaxy will celebrate another edition of the "El Trafico", to define a ticket to the MLS Cup final, as representatives of the Western Conference. Both teams represent the strongest rivalry in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top stars of both teams, Carlos Vela for the black & gold team and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez for the Galaxy, maintain a close friendship.

In fact, there is no competition between them, beyond the soccer field. Not even in the financial aspect, where the difference in salaries between the two is considerable, despite the fact that they are two of the MLS benchmarks.

Vela accepted a significant pay-cut

This happened as of 2022, as Vela accepted a considerable reduction in his salary for this season and thus ceased to be one of the highest-paid players in the league, allowing the arrival of stellar reinforcements such as Gareth Bale and Giorgio Chiellini. But this caused him to fall considerably in the salary table.

How much does Chicharito earn in MLS 2022?

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United player has a base salary for 2022 of $6 million, and with his guaranteed compensation he will receive at the end of the tournament $7,443,750 dollars, the highest salary at the beginning of the year in U.S. soccer.

How much does Carlos Vela earn in MLS 2022?

LA Galaxy's Mexican attacker Javier 'Chicharito' Hernández currently ranks as the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2022. While Carlos Vela, fell to 21st place, after reducing his salary from $6 million, which he earned until last year to $4 million, after accepting this amount to stay in Los Angeles this season.

The reason is that "El Bombardero" was hoping for a three-year contract renewal with the Los Angeles team, but the board offered him only a one-year contract and, even though Vela received offers from other teams, including Liga MX, he preferred to lower his salary in order to win the title with Los Angeles FC.

According to the updated MLS Salary Guide, published in August, before the arrival of people like Bale, Chiellini or the Spanish Riqui Puig, Carlos Vela earned less than people like Rodolfo Pizarro, who in the summer left Inter Miami and returned to Mexico to play for Rayados.

Who is the highest-paid player in the league?

To this date, Italian Lorenzo Insigne of Toronto FC is the highest-paid player in MLS, with 14 million dollars, followed by Swiss Xherdan Shaqiri of Chicago Fire, with $7,350,000 dollars.

Top 10 earners

The top 10 also included other international stars such as Federico Bernardeschi, Douglas Costa, Gonzalo Higuaín, Héctor Herrera, Alejandro Pozuelo, Luiz Araujo, and Jozy Altidore.

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