You don’t need to be a math whiz to see it — CF Montréal is building a team that’s more “Moneyball” than “Messi-money.” While Miami drops eight figures just to keep the GOAT in pastel pink, Montréal’s entire roster costs less than Lionel Messi’s salary alone. That’s not a knock — it’s a strategy. A French-Canadian flavor of frugality that’s quietly competitive.
The average player salary in CF Montreal is currently $414,140/year, and the yearly wage bill for all the players combined guaranteed pay is $12,923,253. This makes them the 30th highest-paying club in the MLS. They are the lowest rank in the entire league for total guaranteed compensation.
🥇 The Gold Standard: Giacomo Vrioni
Base Salary: $2,000,000
Guaranteed: $2,247,500
CF Montréal’s top earner isn’t some aging superstar cashing retirement checks — it’s Giacomo Vrioni, a 26-year-old center forward who arrived with the kind of résumé that makes you raise an eyebrow and say, “Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.”
He’s got the payday — nearly 17% of the entire team’s payroll — and with that comes pressure. Vrioni’s not just Montréal’s big spender; he’s their offensive focal point. If he’s scoring, the whole city hums. If he’s not, well, $2 million suddenly feels pretty loud in a quiet stadium.
🥈 Silver Medalist: Iván Jaime
Base Salary: $1,800,000
Guaranteed: $1,991,200
Right behind him is Iván Jaime, an attacking midfielder who plays like a street artist with a paintbrush dipped in espresso. When he’s on, the ball sticks to his feet like it owes him rent.
He’s creative, fiery, and at nearly 15% of the team’s budget, he’s paid to be Montréal’s metronome — the guy who makes the music. If Vrioni’s the finisher, Jaime’s the composer. Together, they account for about a third of the entire payroll. Not bad for a club that ranks 29th in MLS spending out of 30 teams.
🥉 Bronze Medalist: Prince Owusu
Base Salary: $900,000
Guaranteed: $1,007,500
Third place goes to Prince Owusu, a striker with a royal name and a blue-collar motor. He’s earning roughly $1 million guaranteed, and unlike some of the league’s bench-warming millionaires, Owusu’s return on investment comes from pure grind.
He’s not a highlight reel guy — more like a hammer. But if Vrioni and Jaime are flair and finesse, Owusu is the reminder that sometimes the prettiest goals start with ugly work.
Best Bang for the Buck
Let’s talk Samuel Piette. The heart, lungs, and probably the conscience of CF Montréal. Making $535K, Piette costs about the same as Messi’s private jet fuel for a week — and yet he plays like he owns the city.
Another steal? Jonathan Sirois, the 23-year-old keeper pulling in $275K base. He’s cool under pressure, fast off his line, and keeps Montréal in games they have no business surviving. That’s the kind of value every small-market club prays for.
How Montréal Stacks Up
At just over $11.5 million in total base salary, CF Montréal is near the bottom of the MLS payroll rankings — 29th out of 30, barely ahead of Philadelphia. For context, Inter Miami’s payroll is over three times larger, and LAFC’s Heung-min Son makes almost as much as Montréal’s entire top five combined.
But that’s the beauty of Montréal. They don’t spend like the heavyweights — they outwork them. They’ve built a locker room that feels more lunch pail than limousine, and somehow, it works.
The Blueprint
The club’s approach is clear: invest smartly, develop youth, and rely on chemistry instead of celebrity. Look down the roster and you’ll see it — 28 players, most earning between $80K and $600K, each carrying a small slice of the collective pie.
They don’t have the flashiest names, but they’ve got something you can’t buy on the transfer market: cohesion.
CF Montréal 2025 Salary Table
(Highlighting Top 3 Earners in Gold, Silver, and Bronze)
| Player | Pos | Base | Guaranteed | Rank | % Base | % Guar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giacomo Vrioni | Center Forward | $2,000,000 | $2,247,500 | 1 | 17.2% | 17.4% |
| Iván Jaime | Attacking Midfield | $1,800,000 | $1,991,200 | 2 | 15.5% | 15.4% |
| Prince Owusu | Center Forward | $900,000 | $1,007,500 | 3 | 7.8% | 7.8% |
| Matías Cóccaro | Center Forward | $800,000 | $888,000 | 4 | 6.9% | 6.9% |
| Jalen Neal | Center-back | $600,000 | $681,250 | 5 | 5.2% | 5.3% |
| Gennadiy Synchuk | Right Wing | $600,000 | $606,000 | 5 | 5.2% | 4.7% |
| Samuel Piette | Defensive Midfield | $535,250 | $561,016 | 7 | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| Kwadwo Mahala Opoku | Right Wing | $458,333 | $598,560 | 8 | 4.0% | 4.6% |
| Thomas Gillier | Goalkeeper | $445,000 | $487,000 | 9 | 3.8% | 3.8% |
| Fabian Herbers | Right Wing | $400,000 | $440,000 | 10 | 3.4% | 3.4% |
| Bryce Duke | Attacking Midfield | $350,000 | $431,875 | 11 | 3.0% | 3.3% |
| Sunusi Ibrahim | Center Forward | $350,000 | $410,000 | 11 | 3.0% | 3.2% |
| Matty Longstaff | Central Midfield | $312,000 | $331,869 | 13 | 2.7% | 2.6% |
| Fernando Álvarez | Center-back | $275,000 | $307,500 | 14 | 2.4% | 2.4% |
| Jonathan Sirois | Goalkeeper | $275,000 | $292,625 | 14 | 2.4% | 2.3% |
| Bode Hidalgo | Right-back | $275,000 | $305,800 | 14 | 2.4% | 2.4% |
| Dawid Bugaj | Right-back | $240,000 | $267,600 | 17 | 2.1% | 2.1% |
| Efraín Morales | Center-back | $104,000 | $112,019 | 18 | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| Sébastian Breza | Goalkeeper | $104,000 | $104,000 | 18 | 0.9% | 0.8% |
| Dante Sealy | Left Wing | $104,000 | $122,022 | 18 | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| Luca Petrasso | Left-back | $104,000 | $119,136 | 18 | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| Olger Escobar | Attacking Midfield | $80,622 | $86,018 | 22 | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Owen Graham-Roache | Center Forward | $80,622 | $86,512 | 22 | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Brandan Craig | Center-back | $80,622 | $90,427 | 22 | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Victor Loturi | Central Midfield | $80,622 | $92,122 | 22 | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Alessandro Biello | Central Midfield | $80,622 | $80,622 | 22 | 0.7% | 0.6% |
| Emil Gazdov | Goalkeeper | $80,622 | $88,769 | 22 | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Yuri Guboglo | Right-back | $80,622 | $86,311 | 22 | 0.7% | 0.7% |
If there are any new signings or other updates to the player salaries, I will update the information above.
Here are the player salaries for all the teams In the MLS.
