Designated Player Rule

David Beckham was the league's first Designated Player, with the rule being nicknamed the "Beckham Rule".

The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee for the player). The rule, which was adopted ahead of the 2007 MLS season, enables teams to compete for star players in the international football market. The rule is one of two mechanisms by which MLS teams may exceed their salary cap, the other being allocation money. As of December 2019, there have been 209 Designated Players in league history.

The rule is informally named after David Beckham, in anticipation of MLS teams signing lucrative deals with internationally recognized players, after Beckham entered into negotiations to join the league. ^{[1] [2]} Beckham was the first player signed under this rule, signing a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 with a guaranteed annual salary of $6.5 million. ^{[3] [4]}

History

The team salary cap was estimated to be around US$1.9 million in 2006, ^[5] was $2.1 million in 2007, and was raised to $2.3 million for the 2008 season. ^{[6] [7]} As part of the 2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLS and the MLS Players' Union, the 2010 salary cap was $2.55 million, with an automatic five percent increase each year until the expiration of the agreement at the end of the 2014 season.

Under the 2007 rule:

• The rule expires at the end of the 2009 season, and must be renewed then or allowed to lapse.
• For each Designated Player, $400,000 ^{[7] [8]} of his salary is charged to the salary cap and paid by the league, with any remaining salary being paid by the team's owner. This value was increased for the 2009 season to $415,000.
• Prior to the 2007 season, there were three players whose salary exceeded $400,000. These players were Landon Donovan, Carlos Ruiz, and Eddie Johnson. According to the rule, these players were grandfathered in for the 2007 season, and the exemption was extended after the 2007 season, with the league planning to review the issue at a future date. It was possible that the league would be required to renegotiate these players' contracts or consider them Designated Players. However, prior to the start of the 2008 season, Johnson moved to Fulham of the Premier League, ^[9] while following Dwayne De Rosario's signing by Toronto FC in January 2009, Ruiz was released by the club and left MLS to play for Olimpia Asunción. This left Donovan as the lone player whose 2009 salary remained grandfathered under the exemption provision. However, there were several more players whose guaranteed salary exceeded the Designated Player amount, but whose salary cap expense was actually lower than their true salary due to the allocation rule. These players include Shalrie Joseph ($450,000), Christian Gomez ($430,000), Dwayne De Rosario ($425,750), and Taylor Twellman ($420,000).
• Each team initially had one Designated Player spot, but could trade their Designated Spot to another team; teams were allowed a maximum of two Designated Players.
• Only $325,000 of a team's second Designated Player counted against the salary cap, which was increased to $335,000 in 2009. ^[7]

The 2010 changes: ^[10]

• The rule has no expiration date.
• For each Designated Player, $335,000 of his salary is charged to the salary cap and paid by the league ($167,500 for DP players joining during the MLS summer transfer window), with any remaining salary being paid by the team's owner. This amount is halved for Designated Players signed in the middle of the season. The salary cap value of Designated Players can also be reduced using allocation money. Finally, teams whose Designated Players transfer abroad in the middle of a season can recoup part of the Designated Players' salary cap value.
• Landon Donovan is no longer grandfathered into the rule and must be considered a Designated Player.
• Each team is allowed two Designated Player spots, and they can no longer trade their Designated Player spots. The New York Red Bulls will receive $70,000 in allocation money in return for the nullification of their 2007 trade with Chivas USA for an additional Designated Player spot. This means that both New York and Chivas USA will have two Designated Player spots for the 2010 season.
• Teams can pay a $250,000 "luxury tax" for the right to sign a third Designated Player. This $250,000 would be distributed equally to all MLS teams that have not signed a third Designated Player in the form of allocation money.

The 2012 changes: ^[11]

Starting with the 2012 season, the rule was changed with respect to younger players. MLS announced the changes in August 2011 after clubs expressed concern about signing young international players with no guarantees that they would develop into stars.

• Designated Players over the age of 23 will carry a salary budget charge of $350,000, unless the player joins his club in the middle of the season, in which case his budget charge will be $175,000.
• Designated Players 21–23 years old count as $200,000 against the club's salary budget.
• Designated Players 20 years old or younger count as $150,000 against the club's salary budget.
• The budget charge for the midseason signing of a young Designated Player (23 years old and younger) is $150,000 and this amount cannot be lowered with allocation funds.
• Clubs will not have to buy the third DP roster slot to accommodate Designated Players 23 years old and younger.
• Age of player is determined by year (not date) of birth.

The maximum budget charge for Designated Players over age 23 was increased to $368,750 for 2013, $387,500 in 2014, $436,250 in 2015, $457,500 in 2016, and $480,625 in 2017. The budget charge for those who join during the midseason transfer window has remained at one-half of the full-season cap charge since the inception of the rule. The budget charges for younger players have not changed since 2012. ^[12]

Background

The rule is informally named after David Beckham, in anticipation of MLS teams signing lucrative deals with internationally recognized players of Beckham's caliber. ^{[1] [2]} Beckham was the first player to be signed under this rule, signing a lucrative contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy worth up to $250 million over five years, with direct guaranteed compensation from MLS and Galaxy at $6.5 million a year. ^[3]

Current Designated Players

As of November 14, 2024 ^[13]

Year signed as DP	Player	Nation­ality	Current club	2024 guaranteed compensation [14]
2019	Carles Gil		New England Revolution	$4,452,083
2020	Hany Mukhtar		Nashville SC	$5,211,667
2020	Darlington Nagbe		Columbus Crew	$1,540,000
2020	Alan Pulido		Sporting Kansas City	$3,600,000
2020	Cristian Espinoza		San Jose Earthquakes	$2,002,000
2020	Victor Wanyama		CF Montréal	$1,800,000
2021	Luciano Acosta		FC Cincinnati	$4,216,413
2021	Kévin Cabral		Colorado Rapids	$1,950,000
2021	Sebastián Driussi		Austin FC	$6,722,500
2021	Ryan Gauld		Vancouver Whitecaps	$2,985,000
2022	Sebastián Ferreira		Houston Dynamo	$2,290,200
2022	Jesús Ferreira		FC Dallas	$2,204,000
2022	Karol Świderski		Charlotte FC	$2,258,000
2022	Mikael Uhre		Philadelphia Union	$2,040,000
2022	Alan Velasco		FC Dallas	$1,451,000
2022	Thiago Martins		New York City FC	$2,462,000
2022	Obinna Nwobodo		FC Cincinnati	$1,289,400
2022	Andrés Cubas		Vancouver Whitecaps	$1,146,375
2022	Walker Zimmerman		Nashville SC	$3,456,979
2022	Cucho Hernández		Columbus Crew	$2,886,000
2022	Lorenzo Insigne		Toronto FC	$15,400,000
2022	Giacomo Vrioni		New England Revolution	$1,947,500
2022	Federico Bernardeschi		Toronto FC	$6,295,381
2022	Christian Benteke		D.C. United	$4,432,778
2022	Denis Bouanga		Los Angeles FC	$3,609,500
2023	João Klauss		St. Louis City SC	$1,370,284
2023	Eduard Löwen		St. Louis City SC	$1,344,250
2023	Evander		Portland Timbers	$2,355,000
2023	Dániel Gazdag		Philadelphia Union	$1,757,500
2023	Martín Ojeda		Orlando City	$972,600
2023	Carlos Gruezo		San Jose Earthquakes	$1,681,086
2023	Dante Vanzeir		New York Red Bulls	$1,489,767
2023	Riqui Puig		LA Galaxy	$2,449,996
2023	Santiago Rodríguez		New York City FC	$1,331,333
2023	Cristian Arango		Real Salt Lake	$2,088,746
2023	Teemu Pukki		Minnesota United	$3,550,000
2023	Rafael Navarro		Colorado Rapids	$1,427,708
2023	Lionel Messi		Inter Miami	$20,446,667
2023	Sergio Busquets		Inter Miami	$8,774,996
2023	Sam Surridge		Nashville SC	$2,907,639
2023	Diego Rossi		Columbus Crew	$3,376,827
2024	Tomás Chancalay		New England Revolution	$1,010,000
2024	Emil Forsberg		New York Red Bulls	$6,035,625
2024	Djordje Mihailovic		Colorado Rapids	$1,675,000
2024	Pedro de la Vega		Seattle Sounders	$1,164,000
2024	Gabriel Pec		LA Galaxy	$2,459,000
2024	Petar Musa		FC Dallas	$2,230,000
2024	Hugo Cuypers		Chicago Fire	$3,528,044
2024	Luis Muriel		Orlando City	$4,336,150
2024	Joseph Paintsil		LA Galaxy	$3,358,000
2024	Stian Rode Gregersen		Atlanta United	$1,120,000
2024	Richie Laryea		Toronto FC	$1,208,188
2024	Liel Abada		Charlotte FC	$2,448,500
2024	Jonathan Rodríguez		Portland Timbers	$2,627,500
2024	Hernán López		San Jose Earthquakes	$1,020,000
2024	Eduard Atuesta		Los Angeles FC	$689,700
2024	Ezequiel Ponce		Houston Dynamo	$2,822,200
2024	Olivier Giroud		Los Angeles FC	$3,675,000
2024	Osman Bukari		Austin FC	$1,000,000
2024	Marcel Hartel		St. Louis City SC	$2,183,113
2024	Kelvin Yeboah		Minnesota United	$1,427,200
2024	Aleksei Miranchuk		Atlanta United	$3,685,441
2024	Diogo Gonçalves		Real Salt Lake	$1,797,108
2024	Felipe Carballo		New York Red Bulls	$1,169,777
2024	Joaquín Pereyra		Minnesota United	$699,800
2024	Stuart Armstrong		Vancouver Whitecaps	$2,877,774
2024	Gastón Giménez		Chicago Fire	$n/a
2025	Hirving Lozano		San Diego FC	$n/a
2025	Kévin Denkey		FC Cincinnati	$n/a
2025	Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting		New York Red Bulls	$n/a

Notes

• Chart indicates when players signed their current Designated Player contract, not necessarily their first year in MLS.
• Other players in MLS may also be paid a salary that takes them above the Designated Player threshold, but they have had their salary reduced against the salary cap using General or Targeted Allocation Money. ^[15]
• Player salaries may be below the Designated Player threshold, but their transfer fee might mean the total compensation takes them above the threshold.
• Player salaries include compensation from their MLS contract, not including any bonuses or compensation from contracts with individual teams or their affiliates.

Club DP history

As of May 14, 2024 ^[16]

Notes

• The below list indicates players who have had their contract assigned as a Designated Player (DP) contract during their time in MLS. Players may have not always have had a DP contract, or have later had their contract negotiated below a DP level. Similarly, some players have been in MLS whose salary has been at a DP level, but the club has opted to bring their salary below the DP threshold using General Allocation Money or Targeted Allocation Money. Their listed "Years as DP" indicates what seasons they were active as a DP for that club only. Players in bold are currently signed to a DP contract by their club.
• Former MLS sides Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny were dissolved before the introduction of the Designated Player Rule.

Atlanta United FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Héctor Villalba	San Lorenzo	2017
Miguel Almirón	Lanús	2017–2018
Josef Martínez	Torino	2017–2022
Esequiel Barco	Independiente	2018–2021
Pity Martínez	River Plate	2019–2020
Marcelino Moreno	Lanús	2020
Alan Franco	Independiente	2021
Luiz Araújo	Lille	2021–2023
Thiago Almada	Vélez Sarsfield	2022–2024
Giorgos Giakoumakis	Celtic	2023–2024
Saba Lobzhanidze	Hatayspor	2023
Stian Rode Gregersen	Bordeaux	2024–
Aleksei Miranchuk	Atalanta	2024–

Austin FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Cecilio Domínguez	Independiente	2021–2022
Tomás Pochettino	Talleres	2021
Sebastián Driussi	Zenit Saint Petersburg	2021–
Alexander Ring	New York City FC	2022–2024 [17]
Emiliano Rigoni	São Paulo	2022–2024
Osman Bukari	Red Star Belgrade	2024–

Charlotte FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Jordy Alcívar	L.D.U. Quito	2022
Karol Świderski	PAOK	2022–2023, 2024–
Kamil Jóźwiak	Derby County	2022–2023
Enzo Copetti	Racing Club	2023–2024
Liel Abada	Celtic	2024–
Pep Biel	Olympiacos	2024

Chicago Fire FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Cuauhtémoc Blanco	América	2007–2009
Freddie Ljungberg	Seattle Sounders	2010
Nery Castillo	Shakhtar Donetsk	2010
Álvaro Fernández	Seattle Sounders	2012–2013
Sherjill MacDonald	Germinal Beerschot	2012–2013
Federico Puppo	Danubio	2012–2014
Egidio Arévalo Ríos	Tijuana	2013
Juan Luis Anangonó	El Nacional	2013–2014
Gilberto	Toronto FC	2015–2016
David Accam	Helsingborg	2015–2017
Shaun Maloney	Wigan Athletic	2015
Kennedy Igboananike	AIK	2015–2016
Nemanja Nikolić	Legia Warsaw	2017–2019
Bastian Schweinsteiger	Manchester United	2017–2019
Aleksandar Katai	Alavés	2019
Robert Berić	Saint-Étienne	2020–2021
Ignacio Aliseda	Defensa y Justicia	2020–2021
Gastón Giménez	Vélez Sarsfield	2020–2022, 2024–
Xherdan Shaqiri	Lyon	2022–2024
Jairo Torres	Atlas	2022–2023
Ousmane Doumbia	Lugano	2023
Hugo Cuypers	Gent	2024–

Chivas USA (defunct)

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Juan Pablo Ángel	LA Galaxy	2011–2012
Oswaldo Minda	Deportivo Quito	2012–2014
Shalrie Joseph	New England Revolution	2012
Erick Torres	Guadalajara	2013–2014
Mauro Rosales	Seattle Sounders	2014

FC Cincinnati

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Fanendo Adi	Portland Timbers	2019
Allan Cruz	Herediano	2019–2020
Yuya Kubo	Gent	2020, 2021–2022
Jürgen Locadia	Brighton & Hove Albion	2020–2021
Brenner	São Paulo	2021–2023
Luciano Acosta	Atlas	2021–
Obinna Nwobodo	Göztepe	2022–
Aaron Boupendza	Al-Shabab	2023–2024
Kévin Denkey	Cercle Brugge	2025–

Colorado Rapids

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Gabriel Torres	Zamora	2013–2015
Juan Edgardo Ramírez	Argentinos Juniors	2015–2017
Kevin Doyle	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2015–2016
Shkëlzen Gashi	Basel	2016–2018
Tim Howard	Everton	2016–2019
Younes Namli	Krasnodar	2020–2021
Gyasi Zardes	Columbus Crew	2022
Kévin Cabral	LA Galaxy	2023–
Andreas Maxsø	Brøndby	2023
Rafael Navarro	Palmeiras	2023–
Djordje Mihailovic	AZ	2023–

Columbus Crew

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Boca Juniors	2009–2010
Andrés Mendoza	Diyarbakırspor	2010–2011
Federico Higuaín	Colón	2012–2019
Kei Kamara	Middlesbrough	2016
Jonathan Mensah	Anzhi Makhachkala	2017
Pedro Santos	Braga	2017–2019
Gyasi Zardes	LA Galaxy	2019–2022
Darlington Nagbe	Atlanta United	2020–
Lucas Zelarayán	Tigres UANL	2020–2023
Cucho Hernández	Watford	2022–
Diego Rossi	Fenerbahçe	2023–

FC Dallas

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Denílson	Al-Nassr	2007
David Ferreira	Atlético Paranaense	2009–2013
Fabián Castillo	Deportivo Cali	2011–2015
Julian de Guzman	Toronto FC	2012
Eric Hassli	Toronto FC	2013
Mauro Díaz	River Plate	2013–2016
Andrés Ramiro Escobar	Dynamo Kyiv	2014
David Texeira	Groningen	2014–2015
Carlos Gruezo	VfB Stuttgart	2016–2018
Aníbal Chalá	El Nacional	2017
Cristian Colmán	Nacional Asunción	2017–2018
Santiago Mosquera	Millonarios	2018–2020
Bryan Acosta	Tenerife	2019–2021
Pablo Aránguiz	Unión Española	2019
Franco Jara	Pachuca	2020–2022
Jesús Ferreira	FC Dallas Academy	2022–
Alan Velasco	Independiente	2022–
Petar Musa	Benfica	2024–

D.C. United

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Luciano Emílio	Olimpia	2008–2009
Marcelo Gallardo	Paris Saint-Germain	2008
Branko Bošković	Rapid Wien	2010–2012
Dwayne De Rosario	New York Red Bulls	2011–2013
Hamdi Salihi	Rapid Wien	2012
Rafael Gladiador	Bahia	2013
Eddie Johnson	Seattle Sounders	2014–2015
Fabián Espíndola	New York Red Bulls	2015–2016
Paul Arriola	Tijuana	2017–2021
Wayne Rooney	Everton	2018–2019
Lucas Rodríguez	Estudiantes	2019
Edison Flores	Morelia	2020–2022
Taxiarchis Fountas	Rapid Wien	2022–2023
Victor Pálsson	Schalke 04	2022
Christian Benteke	Crystal Palace	2022–
Mateusz Klich	Leeds United	2023–2024
Matti Peltola	HJK	2024

Houston Dynamo FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Luis Ángel Landín	Morelia	2009–2010
Boniek García	Olimpia	2012–2014
Giles Barnes	Doncaster Rovers	2012–2016
Alexander López	Olimpia	2013–2014
DaMarcus Beasley	Puebla	2014–2016
Mauro Manotas	Uniautónoma	2015–2016, 2020
Erick Torres	Guadalajara	2015–2017
Alberth Elis	Monterrey	2017–2020
Tomás Martínez	Braga	2017–2019
Darwin Quintero	Minnesota United	2020–2021
Teenage Hadebe	Yeni Malatyaspor	2021–2023
Sebastián Ferreira	Libertad	2022–
Héctor Herrera	Atlético Madrid	2022–2024
Ezequiel Ponce	AEK Athens	2024–

Inter Miami CF

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Matías Pellegrini	Estudiantes	2020
Rodolfo Pizarro	Monterrey	2020–2023
Gonzalo Higuaín	Juventus	2020–2022
Blaise Matuidi	Juventus	2021
Gregore	Bahia	2021–2023
Alejandro Pozuelo	Toronto FC	2022
Leonardo Campana	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2023–2024
Lionel Messi	Paris Saint-Germain	2023–
Sergio Busquets	Barcelona	2023–

Sporting Kansas City

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Claudio López	Racing Club	2008
Omar Bravo	Guadalajara	2011
Jéferson	Vasco da Gama	2011
Claudio Bieler	L.D.U. Quito	2013–2014
Matt Besler	University of Notre Dame	2014–2016
Graham Zusi	University of Maryland	2014–2017
Roger Espinoza	Wigan Athletic	2015–2018
Diego Rubio	Valladolid	2016
Gerso Fernandes	Belenenses	2017
Yohan Croizet	Mechelen	2018–2019
Felipe Gutiérrez	Real Betis	2018–2020
Johnny Russell	Derby County	2019–2024
Alan Pulido	Guadalajara	2020–
Gadi Kinda	Beitar Jerusalem	2021–2023

LA Galaxy

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
David Beckham	Real Madrid	2007–2012
Landon Donovan	Bayer Leverkusen	2010–2014
Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls	2011
Robbie Keane	Tottenham Hotspur	2011–2016
Omar Gonzalez	University of Maryland	2013–2015
Steven Gerrard	Liverpool	2015–2016
Giovani dos Santos	Villarreal	2015–2018
Jelle Van Damme	Standard Liège	2016–2017 [18]
Romain Alessandrini	Marseille	2017–2019
Jonathan dos Santos	Villarreal	2017–2021
Zlatan Ibrahimović	Manchester United	2019
Cristian Pavón	Boca Juniors	2020
Javier Hernández	Sevilla	2020–2023
Kévin Cabral	Valenciennes	2021–2022
Douglas Costa	Juventus	2022–2023
Riqui Puig	Barcelona	2023–
Gabriel Pec	Vasco da Gama	2024–
Joseph Paintsil	Genk	2024–

Los Angeles FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Carlos Vela	Real Sociedad	2018–2023
Diego Rossi	Peñarol	2018–2021
André Horta	Benfica	2018–2019
Brian Rodríguez	Peñarol	2019–2021
Denis Bouanga	Saint-Étienne	2022–
Eduard Atuesta	Palmeiras	2024–
Olivier Giroud	AC Milan	2024–

Minnesota United FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Darwin Quintero	América	2018–2019
Ángelo Rodríguez	Deportes Tolima	2018–2019
Ján Greguš	Copenhagen	2019–2021
Thomás Chacón	Danubio	2019–2020
Emanuel Reynoso	Boca Juniors	2020–2024
Adrien Hunou	Rennes	2021–2022
Luis Amarilla	Vélez Sarsfield	2022–2023
Ménder García	Once Caldas	2022–2023
Teemu Pukki	Norwich City	2023–
Kelvin Yeboah	Genoa	2024–
Joaquín Pereyra	Atlético Tucumán	2024–

CF Montréal

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Marco Di Vaio	Bologna	2012–2014
Hernán Bernardello	Almería	2013–2014
Ignacio Piatti	San Lorenzo	2014–2019
Didier Drogba	Chelsea	2015–2016
Lucas Ontivero	Galatasaray	2016
Blerim Džemaili	Bologna	2017
Saphir Taïder	Bologna	2018–2020
Victor Wanyama	Tottenham Hotspur	2020–
Aljaž Struna	Houston Dynamo	2021
Djordje Mihailovic	Chicago Fire	2021

Nashville SC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Hany Mukhtar [19]	Brøndby	2020–
Randall Leal	Saprissa	2020–2021
Jhonder Cádiz	Benfica	2020–2021
Aké Arnaud Loba	Monterrey	2021–2023
Walker Zimmerman	Los Angeles FC	2022–
Sam Surridge	Nottingham Forest	2023–

New England Revolution

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Milton Caraglio	Rosario Central	2011
Shalrie Joseph	New York Freedom	2012
Jerry Bengtson	Motagua	2012–2014
Jermaine Jones	Beşiktaş	2014–2015
José Gonçalves	Sion	2016
Xavier Kouassi	Sion	2016–2017
Kei Kamara	Columbus Crew	2016–2017
Claude Dielna	Sheffield Wednesday	2018
Carles Gil	Deportivo La Coruña	2019–
Gustavo Bou	Tijuana	2019–2023
Adam Buksa	Pogoń Szczecin	2020–2022
Giacomo Vrioni	Juventus	2022–
Tomás Chancalay	Racing Club	2024–

New York City FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
David Villa	Atlético Madrid	2014–2018
Frank Lampard	Manchester City	2015–2016
Andrea Pirlo	Juventus	2015–2017
Maximiliano Moralez	León	2017–2021
Jesús Medina	Libertad	2018–2021
Alexandru Mitriță	Universitatea Craiova	2019–2020
Talles Magno	Vasco da Gama	2021–2024
Thiago Martins	Yokohama F. Marinos	2022–
Santiago Rodríguez	Montevideo City Torque	2023–

New York Red Bulls

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Claudio Reyna	Manchester City	2007–2008
Juan Pablo Ángel	Aston Villa	2007–2010
Thierry Henry	Barcelona	2010–2014
Rafael Márquez	Barcelona	2010–2012
Frank Rost	Hamburger SV	2011
Tim Cahill	Everton	2012–2014
Bradley Wright-Phillips	Charlton Athletic	2015–2016, 2017–2019
Gonzalo Verón	San Lorenzo	2015–2017
Sacha Kljestan	Anderlecht	2016–2017
Omer Damari	RB Leipzig	2016
Kaku	Huracán	2018–2021
Josh Sims	Southampton	2019–2020
Dru Yearwood	Brentford	2020–2021
Patryk Klimala	Celtic	2021–2022
Luquinhas	Legia Warsaw	2022–2023
Dante Vanzeir	Union SG	2023–
Emil Forsberg	RB Leipzig	2024–
Felipe Carballo	Grêmio	2024–
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting	Bayern Munich	2025–

Orlando City SC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Kaká	Milan	2014–2017
Carlos Rivas	Deportivo Cali	2015–2017
Bryan Róchez	Real España	2015–2016
Matías Pérez García	San Jose Earthquakes	2016–2017
Giles Barnes	Vancouver Whitecaps	2017
Yoshimar Yotún	Malmö FF	2017
Dom Dwyer	Sporting Kansas City	2018–2020
Sacha Kljestan	New York Red Bulls	2018
Josué Colmán	Cerro Porteño	2018–2019
Nani	Sporting CP	2019–2021
Mauricio Pereyra	Krasnodar	2019–2022
Facundo Torres	Peñarol	2022–2024
Ercan Kara	Rapid Wien	2022–2023
Martín Ojeda	Godoy Cruz	2023–
Luis Muriel	Atalanta	2024–

Philadelphia Union

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Freddy Adu	Benfica	2011–2012
José Kléberson	Bahia	2013
Cristian Maidana	Rangers de Talca	2014–2015
Maurice Edu	Stoke City	2014–2017
Fernando Aristeguieta	Nantes	2015
Alejandro Bedoya	Nantes	2016–2019
Bořek Dočkal	Henan Jianye	2018
Marco Fabián	Eintracht Frankfurt	2019
Jamiro Monteiro	Metz	2020–2021
Julián Carranza	Inter Miami	2022–2024
Mikael Uhre	Brøndby	2022–
Dániel Gazdag	Budapest Honvéd	2023–

Portland Timbers

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Diego Chará	Deportes Tolima	2011–2013
Kris Boyd	Eskişehirspor	2012
Diego Valeri	Lanús	2013–2019
Fanendo Adi	Copenhagen	2014–2015, 2016–2018
Liam Ridgewell	West Bromwich Albion	2014–2016
Lucas Melano	Lanús	2015–2016, 2019
Sebastián Blanco	San Lorenzo	2017–2023
Brian Fernández	Necaxa	2019
Yimmi Chará	Atlético Mineiro	2020–2023
Jarosław Niezgoda	Legia Warsaw	2020–2023
Evander	Midtjylland	2023–
Jonathan Rodríguez	América	2024–

Real Salt Lake

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Álvaro Saborío	Sion	2011–2015
Javier Morales	Vecindario	2011–2015
Kyle Beckerman	Colorado Rapids	2015
Joao Plata	Toronto FC	2015–2016
Sebastián Jaime	Unión Española	2014–2015
Juan Manuel Martínez	Boca Juniors	2015–2016
Yura Movsisyan	Spartak Moscow	2016–2017
Albert Rusnák	Groningen	2017–2021
Jefferson Savarino	Zulia Atlético Mineiro	2017–2019 2022–2023
Sam Johnson	Vålerenga	2019–2020
Jeizon Ramírez	Deportivo Táchira	2020–2021
Damir Kreilach	Union Berlin	2020–2023
Cristian Arango	Pachuca	2023–
Diogo Gonçalves	Copenhagen	2024–

St. Louis City SC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
João Klauss	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim	2023–
Eduard Löwen	Hertha BSC	2023–
Marcel Hartel	FC St. Pauli	2024–

San Diego FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Hirving Lozano	PSV Eindhoven	2025–

San Jose Earthquakes

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Geovanni	Hull City	2010
Chris Wondolowski	Houston Dynamo	2013–2019
Matías Pérez García	Tigre	2014–2016
Innocent Emeghara	Qarabağ	2015–2016
Simon Dawkins	Derby County	2016–2017
Valeri Qazaishvili	Vitesse	2017–2020
Magnus Eriksson	Djurgårdens IF	2018
Cristian Espinoza	Villarreal	2020–
Javier Eduardo López	Guadalajara	2021–2022
Jamiro Monteiro	Philadelphia Union	2022–2023
Carlos Gruezo	FC Augsburg	2023–
Hernán López	Godoy Cruz	2024–

Seattle Sounders FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Freddie Ljungberg	West Ham United	2009–2010
Álvaro Fernández	Nacional	2010–2012
Blaise Nkufo	Twente	2010
Fredy Montero	Deportivo Cali	2011-2012
Mauro Rosales	River Plate	2011–2013
Christian Tiffert	Kaiserslautern	2012–2013
Shalrie Joseph	Chivas USA	2013
Obafemi Martins	Levante	2013–2015
Clint Dempsey	Tottenham Hotspur	2013–2018
Osvaldo Alonso	Charleston Battery	2014–2018
Nelson Valdez	Eintracht Frankfurt	2015–2016
Nicolás Lodeiro	Boca Juniors	2016–2023
Raúl Ruidíaz	Morelia	2018–2024
Víctor Rodríguez	Sporting Gijón	2019
Xavier Arreaga	Barcelona S.C.	2019
João Paulo	Botafogo	2020–2021
Albert Rusnák	Real Salt Lake	2022–2024
Pedro de la Vega	Lanús	2024–

Toronto FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Julian de Guzman	Deportivo La Coruña	2009–2012
Mista	Deportivo La Coruña	2010
Danny Koevermans	PSV Eindhoven	2011–2013
Torsten Frings	Werder Bremen	2011–2012
Eric Hassli	Vancouver Whitecaps	2012
Matías Laba	Argentinos Juniors	2013
Gilberto	Internacional	2014
Michael Bradley	Roma	2014–2019
Jermain Defoe	Tottenham Hotspur	2014–2015
Sebastian Giovinco	Juventus	2015–2018
Jozy Altidore	Sunderland	2015–2021
Alejandro Pozuelo	Genk	2019–2022
Pablo Piatti	Espanyol	2020
Yeferson Soteldo	Santos	2021
Carlos Salcedo	Tigres UANL	2022
Lorenzo Insigne	Napoli	2022–
Federico Bernardeschi	Juventus	2022–
Jonathan Osorio	SC Toronto	2023–2024
Richie Laryea	Nottingham Forest	2024–

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Player	Previous club	Years as DP
Eric Hassli	Zürich	2011–2012
Mustapha Jarju	Mons	2011
Barry Robson	Middlesbrough	2012
Kenny Miller	Cardiff City	2012–2014
Matías Laba	Toronto FC	2014–2017
Mauro Rosales	Chivas USA	2014
Pedro Morales	Málaga	2014–2016
Octavio Rivero	O'Higgins	2015–2016
Fredy Montero	Tianjin TEDA Sporting CP	2017 2019
Brek Shea	Orlando City	2017–2018
Kendall Waston	Saprissa	2018
Hwang In-beom	Daejeon Citizen	2019–2020
Joaquín Ardaiz	Chiasso	2019
Ali Adnan Kadhim	Udinese	2019–2021
Lucas Cavallini	Puebla	2020–2022
Ryan Gauld	Farense	2021–
Andrés Cubas	Nîmes	2022–
Sergio Córdova	FC Augsburg	2023
Stuart Armstrong	Southampton	2024–

Past and present Designated Players by country

Number	Country	Players
56	Argentina	Luciano Acosta, Ignacio Aliseda, Thiago Almada, Esequiel Barco, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Hernán Bernardello, Claudio Bieler, Sebastián Blanco, Gustavo Bou, Milton Caraglio, Julián Carranza, Tomás Chancalay, Enzo Copetti, Pedro de la Vega, Mauro Díaz, Sebastián Driussi, Fabián Espíndola, Cristian Espinoza, Brian Fernández, Alan Franco, Marcelo Gallardo, Federico Higuaín, Gonzalo Higuaín, Sebastián Jaime, Franco Jara, Matías Laba, Claudio López, Hernán López, Cristian Maidana, Juan Manuel Martínez, Pity Martínez, Tomás Martínez, Lucas Melano, Lionel Messi, Javier Morales, Maximiliano Moralez, Marcelino Moreno, Martín Ojeda, Lucas Ontivero, Cristian Pavón, Matías Pellegrini, Joaquín Pereyra, Matías Pérez García, Ignacio Piatti, Pablo Piatti, Tomás Pochettino, Ezequiel Ponce, Juan Edgardo Ramírez, Emanuel Reynoso, Emiliano Rigoni, Lucas Rodríguez, Mauro Rosales, Diego Valeri, Gonzalo Verón, Milton Valenzuela, Alan Velasco
25	United States	Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Paul Arriola, DaMarcus Beasley, Kyle Beckerman, Alejandro Bedoya, Matt Besler, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Dom Dwyer, Maurice Edu, Jesús Ferreira, Omar Gonzalez, Tim Howard, Eddie Johnson, Jermaine Jones, Djordje Mihailovic, Darlington Nagbe, Claudio Reyna, Brek Shea, Chris Wondolowski, Gyasi Zardes, Walker Zimmerman, Graham Zusi
19	Brazil	Luiz Araújo, Brenner, Douglas Costa, Denílson, Luciano Emílio, Evander, Geovanni, Gilberto, Rafael Gladiador, Jéferson, Kaká, João Klauss, José Kléberson, Luquinhas, Talles Magno, Thiago Martins, Rafael Navarro, João Paulo, Gabriel Pec
18	Mexico	Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Omar Bravo, Nery Castillo, Marco Fabián, Javier Hernández, Héctor Herrera, Luis Ángel Landín, Javier Eduardo López, Hirving Lozano, Rafael Márquez, Rodolfo Pizarro, Alan Pulido, Carlos Salcedo, Giovani dos Santos, Jonathan dos Santos, Erick Torres, Jairo Torres, Carlos Vela
16	Colombia	Juan Pablo Ángel, Cristian Arango, Eduard Atuesta, Fabián Castillo, Diego Chará, Yimmi Chará, Andrés Ramiro Escobar, David Ferreira, Ménder García, Cucho Hernández, Mauro Manotas, Fredy Montero, Santiago Mosquera, Luis Muriel, Darwin Quintero, Ángelo Rodríguez
15	Uruguay	Joaquín Ardaiz, Felipe Carballo, Thomás Chacón, Álvaro Fernández, Nicolás Lodeiro, Mauricio Pereyra, Federico Puppo, Egidio Arévalo Rios, Octavio Rivero, Brian Rodríguez, Jonathan Rodríguez, Santiago Rodríguez, Diego Rossi, David Texeira, Facundo Torres
12	Paraguay	Miguel Almirón, Luis Amarilla, Cristian Colmán, Josué Colmán, Andrés Cubas, Cecilio Domínguez, Sebastián Ferreira, Gastón Giménez, Kaku, Jesús Medina, Nelson Valdez, Héctor Villalba
10	England	David Beckham, Jermain Defoe, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Liam Ridgewell, Wayne Rooney, Josh Sims, Sam Surridge, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Dru Yearwood
9	France	Romain Alessandrini, Kévin Cabral, Yohan Croizet, Claude Dielna, Olivier Giroud, Eric Hassli, Thierry Henry, Adrien Hunou, Blaise Matuidi
8	Ecuador	Jordy Alcívar, Juan Luis Anangonó, Xavier Arreaga, Leonardo Campana, Aníbal Chalá, Carlos Gruezo, Oswaldo Minda, Joao Plata
8	Spain	Pep Biel, Sergio Busquets, Carles Gil, Mista, Alejandro Pozuelo, Riqui Puig, Víctor Rodríguez, David Villa
7	Germany	Torsten Frings, Marcel Hartel, Eduard Löwen, Hany Mukhtar, Frank Rost, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Christian Tiffert
7	Honduras	Bryan Acosta, Jerry Bengtson, Alberth Elis, Roger Espinoza, Boniek García, Alexander López, Bryan Róchez
7	Scotland	Stuart Armstrong, Kris Boyd, Ryan Gauld, Shaun Maloney, Kenny Miller, Barry Robson, Johnny Russell
7	Venezuela	Fernando Aristeguieta, Jhonder Cádiz, Sergio Córdova, Josef Martínez, Jeizon Ramírez, Jefferson Savarino, Yeferson Soteldo
6	Italy	Federico Bernardeschi, Marco Di Vaio, Sebastian Giovinco, Lorenzo Insigne, Andrea Pirlo, Kelvin Yeboah
6	Poland	Adam Buksa, Kamil Jóźwiak, Mateusz Klich, Patryk Klimala, Jarosław Niezgoda, Karol Świderski
5	Canada	Lucas Cavallini, Julian de Guzman, Dwayne De Rosario, Richie Laryea, Jonathan Osorio
5	Costa Rica	Allan Cruz, Luis Díaz, Randall Leal, Álvaro Saborío, Kendall Waston
5	Portugal	Diogo Gonçalves, José Gonçalves, André Horta, Nani, Pedro Santos
4	Belgium	Christian Benteke, Hugo Cuypers, Jelle Van Damme, Dante Vanzeir
4	Chile	Pablo Aránguiz, Felipe Gutiérrez, Pedro Morales, Diego Rubio
4	Ghana	David Accam, Osman Bukari, Jonathan Mensah, Joseph Paintsil
4	Ivory Coast	Ousmane Doumbia, Didier Drogba, Xavier Kouassi, Aké Arnaud Loba
4	Nigeria	Fanendo Adi, Kennedy Igboananike, Obafemi Martins, Obinna Nwobodo
4	Peru	Edison Flores, Andrés Mendoza, Raúl Ruidíaz, Yoshimar Yotún
4	Sweden	Magnus Eriksson, Emil Forsberg, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Freddie Ljungberg
4	Switzerland	Blerim Džemaili, Innocent Emeghara, Blaise Nkufo, Xherdan Shaqiri
3	Albania	Shkëlzen Gashi, Hamdi Salihi, Giacomo Vrioni
3	Denmark	Andreas Maxsø, Younes Namli, Mikael Uhre
3	Finland	Matti Peltola, Teemu Pukki, Alexander Ring
3	Israel	Liel Abada, Omer Damari, Gadi Kinda
3	Netherlands	Danny Koevermans, Jürgen Locadia, Sherjill MacDonald
2	Armenia	Yura Movsisyan, Lucas Zelarayán
2	Croatia	Damir Kreilach, Petar Musa
2	Gabon	Denis Bouanga, Aaron Boupendza
2	Georgia	Saba Lobzhanidze, Valeri Qazaishvili
2	Greece	Taxiarchis Fountas, Giorgos Giakoumakis
2	Hungary	Dániel Gazdag, Nemanja Nikolić
2	Ireland	Kevin Doyle, Robbie Keane
2	Jamaica	Giles Barnes, Simon Dawkins
2	Slovakia	Ján Greguš, Albert Rusnák
2	Slovenia	Robert Berić, Aljaž Struna
1	Algeria	Saphir Taïder
1	Australia	Tim Cahill
1	Austria	Ercan Kara
1	Cameroon	Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
1	Cape Verde	Jamiro Monteiro
1	Cuba	Osvaldo Alonso
1	Czech Republic	Bořek Dočkal
1	Gambia	Mustapha Jarju
1	Grenada	Shalrie Joseph
1	Guinea-Bissau	Gerso Fernandes
1	Iceland	Victor Pálsson
1	Iraq	Ali Adnan Kadhim
1	Japan	Yuya Kubo
1	Kenya	Victor Wanyama
1	Liberia	Sam Johnson
1	Montenegro	Branko Bošković
1	Norway	Stian Rode Gregersen
1	Panama	Gabriel Torres
1	Romania	Alexandru Mitriță
1	Russia	Aleksei Miranchuk
1	Serbia	Aleksandar Katai
1	Sierra Leone	Kei Kamara
1	South Korea	Hwang In-beom
1	Togo	Kévin Denkey
1	Zimbabwe	Teenage Hadebe

See also

• Association football portal

• Allocation money
• Franchise player

References

1. Wahl, Grant (November 28, 2011). "Hollywood Ending: If this was indeed David Beckham's final game in MLS, he went out in style, carrying the Galaxy to a championship and affirming the value of star power in America". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 25, 2011. In the first four seasons of MLS's Beckham Rule, which allowed clubs to sign up to three designated players outside the salary cap, ....
2. Lansley, Pete (April 13, 2007). "Becks could be the next American idol". The Telegraph . Archived from the original on April 14, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
3. "PlayersUnion". Mlsplayers.org. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
4. "Beckham hopes to make US history". BBC. January 12, 2007. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
5. Goff, Steven (April 26, 2006). "Palencia Has Richest MLS Salary". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 1, 2007.
6. Mickle, Tripp (November 26, 2007). "Debate highlights MLS salary cap split". Sports Business Journal. Archived from the original on August 13, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
7. Bell, Jack (March 18, 2009). "In M.L.S., Designated Players Do Not Guarantee Great Expectations". The New York Times . Retrieved March 18, 2009.
8. "Galaxy, Milan, Inter wait on Becks". CNN. February 24, 2009. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
9. "Fulham complete Johnson signing". BBC Sport . January 23, 2008. Archived from the original on January 27, 2008.
10. Mayers, Joshua (April 1, 2010). "Major League Soccer adds second DP slot, can purchase a third (league release)". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
11. "2012 MLS Roster Rules". mlssocer.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012.
12. "Roster Rules and Regulations". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on August 23, 2013. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
13. "A Look into NYCFC's 2014 Payroll (or "David Villa is making k")". Empire of Soccer. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
14. "2024 MLS Player Salaries". Major League Soccer Players Union.
15. "MLS Roster Rules and Regulations - MLSsoccer.com" . Retrieved June 20, 2017.
16. "Former MLS Designated Players" . Retrieved August 22, 2017.
17. "Austin FC Acquires $1,075,000 in General Allocation Money". Austin FC. August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
18. "Jelle van Damme completes exit from LA Galaxy and joins Royal Antwerp". espnfc.us. ESPN. August 18, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
19. "Roster | Nashville SC".

External links

• Designated Players glossary entry at MLSsoccer.com