How much does Real Salt Lake spend on its players compared to the rest of the league? Transfer fees? Salaries? And how much are RSL's players worth on the open market?
Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni reacts during the second half of an MLS soccer match against the Portland Timbers Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, in Sandy.Ten years ago, Real Salt Lake were true championship contenders in Major League Soccer.
Of course, how much each player is worth is a matter of negotiation. But just like in more familiar American sports, you can make informed guesses on the approximate value of each player in the open market. A player’s value is mostly based on his current and anticipated future on-field production; young players are generally more valuable than older players too. Attacking players tend to be worth more than defenders.
This, to me, is the biggest problem RSL faces. Many fans have pointed toward Pablo Mastroeni’s managerial skills as deserving the blame. While I think it’s fair to have some concerns there, any manager would struggle when faced with directing less valuable talent.To consider this, it’s worth talking about Major League Soccer’s salary structure. Technically, the MLS salary cap sits at $5.2 million.
As you can see, spending a ton on your three best players does not guarantee success: Toronto and the L.A. Galaxy are actually at the bottom of their respective conference standings. But spending next to nothing on your Designated Players’ salaries isn’t brilliant either: Montreal and the Colorado Rapids are at the bottom of their conferences too. RSL, again, is near the bottom.
What’s interesting about the transfer market generally is that teams can sell these players for big payouts, too: the Chicago Fire are up there in transfer expenditures in the graph above, but they bought Colombian forward Jhon Duran for under $2 million and then sold him for $22 million to Aston Villa in England. That’s a good piece of business.
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