Major League Soccer salaries revealed: Chelsea legend Frank Lampard paid $6m, dwarfing former team mate Ashley Cole’s $300,000 salary
Former England midfield partners Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard will be the fourth and fifth best-paid football players respectively in America next season.
Gerrard, at LA Galaxy, will earn $6.1m and New York City's Lampard is in line for $6m but it is AC Milan and Real Madrid's former Brazilian forward Kaka who tops the Major League Soccer (MLS) rich list with a $7.2m guaranteed salary.
Read more: Steven Gerrard – "I turned down a £10m deal to play in Qatar for MLS"
MLS franchises operate under a salary cap of $3.5m per team but teams are permitted to sign three "designated players" and pay them whatever they want.
Consequently, MLS' best-paid players —which also include former Premier League stars such as Robbie Keane on $3.5m a year and Kevin Doyle on $1.12m a year — enjoy salaries that dwarf those of their teammates.
| Name | Club | Position | Guaranteed salary |
| Kaka | Orlando | Forward | $7.2m |
| Sebastian Giovinco | Toronto | Forward | $7.1m |
| Michael Bradley | Toronto | Midfielder | $6.5m |
| Steven Gerrard | LA Galaxy | Midfielder | $6.1m |
| Frank Lampard | New York City | Midfielder | $6m |
| Andrea Pirlo | New York City | Midfielder | $5.9m |
| David Villa | New York City | Forward | $5.6m |
| Jozy Altidore | Toronto | Forward | $4.8m |
| Clint Dempsey | Seattle | Forward | $4.6m |
| Giovani Dos Santos | LA Galaxy | Forward | $4.3m |
| Robbie Keane | LA Galaxy | Forward | $3.5m |
| Tim Howard | Colorado Rapids | Goalkeeper | $2.6m |
| Didier Drogba | Montreal | Forward | $2.2m |
| Shkelzen Gashi | Colorado Rapids | Midfielder | $1.7m |
| Juan Manuel Martinez | Real Salt Lake | Forward | $1.5m |
| Nelson Valdez | Seattle | Forward | $1.5m |
| Innocent Emeghara | San Jose Earthquakes | Forward | $1.3m |
| Pedro Morales | Vancouver Whitecaps | Midfielder | $1.3m |
| Liam Ridgewell | Portland Timbers | Defender | $1.3m |
| Federico Higuain | Columbus Crew | Midfielder | $1.2m |
Former Chelsea and Arsenal defender Ashley Cole, not a designated player at LA Galaxy, is on $300,000 a season but previous club Roma are believed to be supplementing his salary.
In total, all 20 MLS clubs are paying $175.8m per season to players – less than the wage bills of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.
