NYCFC’s 2018 player salaries are revealed

Ahead of the final regular season games of 2018, Major League Soccer has released its player salary list for the past year. As per usual, New York City FC had a huge payroll for it’s fourth-ever season in America’s top flight. However, some of these contracts are just ridiculous. Let’s go through some of the more egregious ones.

Rodney Wallace, NYCFC’s maligned left winger, is making about $300K. As of recently, the Costa Rican forward’s contributions have been minimal at best. Barring a tap-in goal against Minnesota United last month, Wallace has been relatively unimpressive in the offensive department since May of 2017. But for some reason, both former manager Patrick Vieira and Domé Torrent have fancied him more than younger, more impressive players like Jonathan Lewis.

Taty Castellanos — who arrived on loan from fellow CFG-owned club Torque this summer — is making a base salary of $150,000 with his total compensation rising about $181K. Castellanos is still young and I don’t expect him to be a world beater just yet. But considering the fact the he as a winger has only netted one goal in eight appearances thus far, he’s way overpaid. Also, there is no excuse for him to be starting over a healthy and rested Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, much like we saw this Sunday against D.C. United.

Perhaps the two most head-scratching salaries, though, are that of Jo Inge Berget and Eloi Amagat, who are making in excess of $800K and $260K respectively if you include total compensation.

Yikes. That is literally the only word I have for that.

Despite him being a among the most polarizing player in NYCFC history, I actually like Berget. I feel he brings something unique to the table when it comes to his on-field play and can play a big role when he’s healthy and utilized correctly. However, is he worth $800,000? Absolutely not. Had the Norweigan forward been earning around $150-200K this year, I would have little issue with a number like that. But Berget being that close to $1 million is just unacceptable.

Then you have Amagat. And this is just... depressing.

Since arriving from Girona this summer, Torrent’s homie has contributed absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact, his only significant contribution thus far has been his first-half red card against the New York Red Bulls in August (that was his first appearance, by the way). Amagat has been lethargic and a non-factor for virtually all of his stay.

Other than those who are vastly overpaid, there really isn’t too many problems with NYCFC’s payroll. The Designated Players (David Villa, Maxi Moralez, Jesus Medina) are paid handsomely, while guys like Tajorui-Shradi are making a healthy $350K or so.

Let’s just say that NYCFC are gonna have quite the amount of fat to trim next season.