GARETH BALE swapped Real Madrid for LAFC over the summer in a high profile free transfer.
But after earning a reported £550,000-a-week at the Bernabeu, the 33-year-old took a huge salary slash when he jetted stateside.
Despite being one of the biggest names in the league, the former Tottenham star is only the 23rd highest earner in the MLS.
In figures published by MLS’ players’ association, Bale bags just a tad over £2million per year in “guaranteed compensation” for the season.
That is reported to include any signing on and guaranteed bonus, and works out at just £38,400-a-week.
Bale’s earnings are dwarfed by Toronto FC star Lorenzo Insigne, who pockets a whopping £12.4m per season.
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Insigne joined Toronto from Napoli in the summer and is by far the highest earner in the MLS.
Former Liverpool outcast Xherdan Shaqiri comes in second at £7.2m per season, almost £5m less than Insigne, but close to four times as much as what Bale earns.
Manchester United cult hero Javier Hernandez is the third top earner in the MLS at £6.6m per season.
Other notable names in the top 10 include ex-Chelsea flop Gonzalo Higuain, who earned £5m in his final season with Inter Miami before retiring from football on Monday.
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While ex-Liverpool striker Christian Benteke (3.6m) and former Tottenham midfielder Victor Wanyama (£2.7m) don’t even make the top 10.
But they both still earn more than Bale, who is on peanuts compared to others in the league.
Although Bale’s involvement for LAFC doesn’t quite justify him earning top dollar.
The Wales skipper has started just two MLS games since joining the club.
After a flying start saw him net twice in his first four games, Bale tailed off towards the end of the campaign.
There is still time to turn it around though, with Bale in MLS play-off action against rivals LA Galaxy in the early hours of Friday.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
