Every year around this time is when the tulips in Central Park start to fade, the peonies start to bloom, and the Major League Soccer Player’s Association release the data drop of all player salaries as of the start of the season. As always, we tabulate New York City FC’s official payroll for you: Here are the 2023 NYCFC player salaries.
First, some disclaimers. We list both the base salary and the total compensation (technical term: Annual Average Guaranteed Compensation), is a best-guess that includes signing bonuses and other guaranteed payments averaged over the term of the contract. It does not include performance bonuse because, in the words of the MLSPA, “there is no guarantee that the player will hit those bonuses.”
Also, we list all of the individuals named on the NYCFC payroll. That includes players who are currently on loan, or who are signed to the First Team but often play for NYCFC II in MLS NEXT Pro.
We can only report what they reveal. Now, let’s get to the numbers.
NYCFC 2023 Player Salaries
| Name | Position | Base Compensation | Total Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acevedo, Nicolás | D | $230,000 | $274,800 |
| Alfaro, Tony | D | $120,000 | $120,000 |
| Barraza, Luis | GK | $145,000 | $152,688 |
| Benalcázar, Nico | D | $68,775 | $68,775 |
| Carrizo, Maximo | MF | $67,360 | $111,597 |
| Castellanos, Taty | F | $1,000,000 | $1,176,000 |
| Chanot, Maxime | D | $400,000 | $483,333 |
| Cufré, Braian | D | $620,000 | $757,800 |
| Freese, Matt | GK | $161,250 | $180,000 |
| Gray, Tayvon | D | $300,000 | $350,000 |
| Haak, Justin | MF | $150,000 | $165,000 |
| Ilenič, Mitja | D | $204,000 | $295,700 |
| Jasson, Andres | F | $125,000 | $142,144 |
| Jiménez, Jonathan | F | $68,775 | $68,775 |
| Ledezma, Richy | MF | $350,000 | $396,000 |
| McFarlane, Christian | D | $85,444 | $108,700 |
| Mitriță, Alexandru | F | $1,300,000 | $1,300,000 |
| Mizell, Cody | GK | $85,444 | $85,444 |
| Morales, Alfredo | MF | $600,000 | $662,250 |
| O’Toole, Kevin | D | $85,444 | $85,444 |
| Owusu, Samuel | D | $67,360 | $67,360 |
| Parks, Keaton | MF | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Pellegrini, Matías | F | $1,025,000 | $1,120,833 |
| Pereira, Gabriel | F | $590,000 | $659,500 |
| Rodríguez, Santiago | MF | $1,200,000 | $1,331,333 |
| Sands, James | MF | $1,000,000 | $1,058,333 |
| Segal, Gabriel | F | $67,360 | $67,360 |
| Shore, Jonathan | M | $67,360 | $79,860 |
| Talles Magno | F | $950,000 | $1,198,000 |
| Thiago | F | $200,000 | $219,600 |
| Thiago Martins | D | $1,650,000 | $2,112,000 |
Source: Major League Soccer Player’s Association
1. NYCFC are mid-table club
At least when it comes to payroll: The $15.5 million NYCFC will pay out this year places them at #14 out of the 29-team league. That $15.5 million is fully $1 million lower than New York City ‘s payroll in 2022, when the team was stacked with well-paid veterans. For example, the roster spot once occupied Alexander Callens ($814,000) is now taken by Tony Alfaro ($120,000).
In addition, more than $3 million of the 2023 payroll is distributed to players who are out on loan: Taty Castellanos ($1.2 million) is with Girona FC, take-my-wife-please Alexandru Mitriță ($1.3 million), is with Al-Raed (for now), Niolás Acevedo ($274,000) is with Esporte Clube de Bahia, and Thiago ($219,000) is with Athletico Paranaense. Subtract those and NYCFC’s payroll falls to an extremely frugal $12.5 million.
That puts New York City in the Minnesota United and Vancouver Whitecaps zone — working class Philadelphia Union are big spenders by comparison. That said, every team has loaned-out players who count on these payrolls, so it’s hard to say where on this list NYCFC actually lands.
