San Diego FC ranked fifth in Major League Soccer in total team compensation at $24.4 million when the players association released its spring salary numbers on Tuesday, but that figure drops sharply if Hirving Lozano is taken out of the math.
Without Lozano's $9.33 million in guaranteed compensation, San Diego FC would fall to $15.1 million and all the way to 23rd among the league's 30 clubs. The Mexican forward is set to make $6 million in base salary and another $3.33 million in total compensation beyond that base figure, putting him fourth in MLS this season. Last year, his salary ranked fifth in the league at $7.63 million, with $6 million in base pay and $1.63 million in additional guaranteed compensation.
Those figures underscore how heavily San Diego FC's payroll is concentrated at the top. Anders Dreyer is the club's highest-paid player after Lozano at $3.5 million. Lewis Morgan makes $1.87 million, Marcus Ingvartsen $1.8 million and Jeppe Tverskov $1.1 million. Amahl Pellegrino is making $645,000 this season after earning $912,000 last season, while Andres Reyes is slated to receive $879,000 this year after making $807,000 last year.
The numbers arrive at a moment when San Diego FC needs results as much as payroll headlines. The club was 13th in the Western Conference heading into Wednesday's match against Austin FC at Snapdragon Stadium, and the gap between its spending rank and its position in the table is part of the story now. The team has only one other Designated Player on the roster, Dreyer, and that makes Lozano even more central to both the accounting and the on-field expectations.
The MLSPA's figures include annualized base salary and annualized average guaranteed compensation, the latter folding in signing bonuses spread over the life of a deal, including option years, plus marketing bonuses and agent fees. It does not include performance bonuses, which the association says are not guaranteed.
That distinction matters because Lozano's numbers reflect more than cash on game day. They also sit alongside the backdrop of his earlier fallout with the club, which led to his banishment last season. San Diego FC is paying like a contender at the top end, but the roster's balance suggests a club still trying to prove that one expensive star and a few well-paid support pieces can carry it forward.
