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The story coming late from all the Landon Donovan interviews today is that Donovan's new contract will make him the second highest player in Major League Soccer. Scott French tweeted this out, which was later corroborated by Brian Straus.
Landon Donovan's new @LAGalaxy contract makes him MLS's 2nd-best-paid player (Dempsey is No. 1), and incentives could push him to top spot.
— Scott French (@ScottJFrench) August 29, 2013
Here are MLS' top paid players before Donovan's raise.
| Player Name | Guaranteed Salary |
| Clint Dempsey | $5,038,556.50 |
| Thierry Henry | $4,350,000.00 |
| Robbie Keane | $4,333,333.33 |
| Tim Cahill | $3,625,000.00 |
| Landon Donovan | $2,500,000.00 |
Donovan was already in the top five, and according to Scott French's report Donovan's new Guaranteed Salary sits somewhere between Dempsey and Henry. Brian Straus in his Q & A with Donovan found his annual salary to be in the vicinity of $4.5 milllion, which would indeed make him the second highest paid player in MLS. Straus also said incentives could push Donovan's take home over $5 million. The duration remains unknown.
This makes the two best paid players in Major League soccer Americans, after years of David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, and Robbie Keane being the top earners. It's a sea change happening right now.