Chicago Fire 7th in MLS Salary Spend

The Chicago Fire have the seventh highest salary spending in Major League Soccer, according to the salary guide released by the MLS Players Association this afternoon. Jonathan Bamba is the team's top earner and tenth overall in the league at roughly $5.5 million, with fellow Designated Player Hugo Cuypers following behind at $3.5 million.

Technically, the Fire climbed up to seventh position in the list from 13th, as the mid-season departure of Xherdan Shaqiri left the team with just one DP at the time of the October salary release. However, they had started the season at third overall, trailing just Inter Miami (who totalled over $40 million and pay over $20 million to Lionel Messi alone) and Toronto FC (who continue to pay Lorenzo Insigne $15 million).

Unsurprisingly, Miami and Toronto remain the top two teams while Messi and Insigne remain the top two earners, with Sergio Busquets, Miguel Almirón, Chucky Lozano, Federico Bernardeschi, Emil Forsberg, Jordi Alba, Riqui Puig, and Bamba rounding out the top 10.

From a Chicago standpoint, there are very few surprises on the list, though it does provide a first look at what the team's 16 offseason signings are earning on their first Fire contracts. After Bamba, TAM winger Philip Zinckernagel is unsurprisingly the next-highest among the new additions, making roughly $1.6 million, and he's repaid that investment so far with his all-star level first half of the season.

Two MLS free agency signings – one from 2024 and one from 2025 – round out the Fire's top five. Kellyn Acosta and Jack Elliott are the only other two players whose salaries reach seven figures, and both are among the team's set of TAM players. Homegrown midfielder Brian Gutiérrez, who signed a U-22 Initiative contract at the end of 2023, follows just behind with $950,000 but only hits the cap at a maximum of $200,000 because of his contract structure.

Additionally, the Fire made two new U-22 signings this offseason. Leo Barroso was added from Sporting CP's second team in Portugal, while Djé D'Avilla signed in a big-money move from Portuguese second-tier club Leiria. While Barroso earns roughly $350,000 and D'Avilla $660,000, both only count for a fraction of that as U-22 players, regardless of their transfer fees.

Players on the supplemental roster do not count toward the cap, but new signings Omari Glasgow and Omar González have been first team contributors on under $120,000. Perhaps the best value-for-money player on the whole roster is 17-year-old homegrown defender Christopher Cupps, who hovers just around the reserve minimum salary but has been excellent in his first team run-outs prior to an injury earlier this month. Dean Boltz, Dylan Borso, David Poreba, and Sam Williams all also hover around the same figure, with Williams initially signing just an MLS Next Pro deal this winter.

Finally, 15-year-old midfielder Robert Turdean, who joined the club this offseason in the second-most-expensive homegrown contract in MLS history, is earning $113,549 – $30,000 more than fellow academy signing Cupps. Turdean is yet to feature for either the first team or second team, though he did train with Fire during their preseason. The most expensive homegrown player in the league, Cavan Sullivan, earns triple Turdean's salary at $364,000.

Because Targeted Allocation Money positions are not known, it is impossible to know exactly where the Fire's roster stands against the salary cap. TAM and GAM have been used to buy down the cap hits of several players, and since that information is not public, it is difficult, if not impossible, to pinpoint. What matters is that it is only likely that the Fire would sign one player this summer, and that would be a Designated Player – DPs don't hit the cap any higher than $743,750 regardless of salary or transfer fee, so all they would have to do is open up a roster slot to register the player.