Salary data shows Minnesota United added good value in summer transfer window

MLS salary data shared Thursday for the six new Minnesota United players did not come with sticker shock.

Value — instead any significant lacks in return on investment — should be the prevailing assessment on Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad’s half-dozen additions in the summer transfer window.

Overall, the Loons’ ranked 25th in salary spending in the 29-club MLS, according to data sorted by The Athletic, while the Loons finished 10th in the overall MLS standings.

New striker Kelvin Yeboah headlines the list with a guaranteed annual compensation of $1.4 million, per the MLS Players’ Association data. That is far from the tier of the league’s highest paid players, but MNUFC’s new Designated Player is producing like one of the best in the league.

The 24-year-old forward has seven goals and one assist in 709 minutes. With three penalty-kick goals, he is producing a staggering 0.89 goals per 90 minutes.

New midfielder Joaquin Pereyra’s compensation is $700,000, and the Argentine appears to be finding more footing in MLS. The Designated Player has zero goals and one assists in 407 minutes thus far, but the 25-year-old has been acclimating to new defensive requirements with MNLFC, while finding more avenues for playmaking.

Ramsay felt Pereyra played his best game so far in the 4-1 win over St. Louis on Saturday.

“He struck the balance well between offering us (calmness and composure on the ball), but also making sure that he was threatening the last line and he was looking forward,” Ramsay said. “That’s the player that we signed. That’s a player that I watched a lot of when he was in Argentina.”

New center back Jefferson Díaz is earning $350,000 and the Colombian has bounced back from a forgettable debut agaist Seattle in August, when he contributed to multiple goals conceded. He has mostly cut that out and was a key piece in a 480-minute shoutout streak toward the end the regular season. The 23-year-old has played all but 13 minutes in the final nine games of the season.

Defender Matus Kmet, with a salary of $182,000, is the biggest disappointment among additions this summer. The club needed help at wingback down the stretch, and Kmet has not been able to provide anything. He has not played for the first team.

Ramsay essentially deemed Kmet a project soon after he arrived from Slovakia and he’s now sidelined with a muscle injury picked up last week.

Ramsay and assistant coach Dennis Lawrence had a long conversation with Kmet during the last road trip of the regular season. They wanted to share context with him and emphasize the need to have patience. The 24-year-old is signed through the 2026 season.

“Since he’s come in, every game has felt like a cup final for us,” Ramsay said Tuesday. “We feel like we have played 10 cup finals in a row, where every game is really high stakes and can’t really afford to lose any momentum. Couldn’t really afford to look past players that I sort of know and trust and know what they give us certain circumstances. Even minutes off the bench have been hard to come by.”

Anthony Markanich, who was acquired in a trade with St. Louis, has come off the bench in the last two games. Samuel Shashoa, who was signed as a free agent, has played in three total games. Both are making a paltry $90,000.

Good business

Minnesota United added six players in the summer transfer window. The top three have become regular starters, while the bottom three aren’t taking up big resources as reserves. Here are their salary figures, via the MLS Players’ Association

Kelvin Yeboah: $1,427,200
Joaquin Pereyra: $699,800
Jefferson Diaz: $350,000
Matus Kmet: $182,469
Samuel Shashoa: $90,549
Anthony Markanich: $89,716