Designated Player 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 was adopted ahead of the 2007 MLS season, and it enables teams to compete for star players in the international soccer market. The rule is one of two ways 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 named after David Beckham.[1][2] Beckham was the first player signed under this rule, signing a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy with a guaranteed annual salary of $6.5 million.[3][4]

Club DP History

As of August 12, 2020

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–
  Ezequiel Barco   Independiente 2018–
  Pity Martínez   River Plate 2019–2020
  Marcelino Moreno   Lanús 2020–

Austin FC

Player Previous club Years as DP
  Cecilio Domínguez   Independiente 2021–

Chicago Fire

Player Previous club Years as DP
  Cuauhtémoc Blanco   América 2007–2009
  Freddie Ljungberg   Seattle Sounders FC 2010
  Nery Castillo   Shakhtar Donetsk 2010
  Álvaro Fernández   Seattle Sounders FC 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–
  Ignacio Aliseda   Defensa y Justicia 2020–
  Gastón Giménez   Vélez Sarsfield 2020–

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 FC 2014

FC Cincinnati

Player Previous club Years as DP
  Fanendo Adi   Portland Timbers 2019
  Allan Cruz   Herediano 2019–
  Yuya Kubo   Gent 2020–
  Jürgen Locadia   Brighton & Hove Albion 2020–

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–

Columbus Crew SC

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–
  Milton Valenzuela   Newell's Old Boys 2018–2019
  Gyasi Zardes   LA Galaxy 2019–
  Luis Díaz   Herediano 2019
  Lucas Zelarayán   UANL 2020–

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 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–
  Bryan Acosta   Tenerife 2019–
  Pablo Aránguiz   Unión Española 2019
  Franco Jara   Pachuca 2020–

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   Bahia 2013
  Eddie Johnson   Seattle Sounders FC 2014–2015
  Fabián Espíndola   New York Red Bulls 2015–2016
  Paul Arriola   Tijuana 2017–
  Wayne Rooney   Everton 2018–2019
  Lucas Rodríguez   Estudiantes 2019
  Edison Flores   Morelia 2020–

Houston Dynamo

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
  Erick Torres   Guadalajara 2015–2017
  Alberth Elis   Monterrey 2017–2020
  Tomás Martínez   Braga 2017–

Inter Miami CF

Player Previous club Years as DP
  Matías Pellegrini   Estudiantes 2020–
  Rodolfo Pizarro   Monterrey 2020–
  Gonzalo Higuaín   Juventus 2020–

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[5]
  Romain Alessandrini   Marseille 2017–2019
  Jonathan dos Santos   Villarreal 2017–
  Zlatan Ibrahimović   Manchester United 2019
  Cristian Pavón   Boca Juniors 2020–
  Javier Hernández   Sevilla 2020–

Los Angeles FC

Player Previous club Years as DP
  Carlos Vela   Real Sociedad 2018–
  Diego Rossi   Peñarol 2018–
  André Horta   Benfica 2018–2019
  Brian Rodríguez   Peñarol 2019–

Minnesota United FC

Player Previous club Years as DP
  Darwin Quintero   América 2018–2019
  Ángelo Rodríguez   Deportes Tolima 2018–2019
  Ján Greguš   Copenhagen 2019–
  Thomás Chacón   Danubio 2019–
  Emanuel Reynoso   Boca Juniors 2020–

Montreal Impact

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–
  Victor Wanyama   Tottenham Hotspur 2020–

Nashville SC

Player Previous club Years as DP
  Hany Mukhtar   Brøndby IF 2020–
  Randall Leal   Saprissa 2020–
  Jhonder Cádiz   Benfica 2020–

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 SC 2016–2017
  Claude Dielna   Sheffield Wednesday 2018
  Carles Gil   Deportivo La Coruña 2019–
  Gustavo Bou   Tijuana 2019–
  Adam Buksa   Pogoń Szczecin 2020–

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–
  Jesús Medina   Libertad 2018–
  Alexandru Mitriță   Universitatea Craiova 2019–2020

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
  Alejandro Romero Gamarra   Huracán 2018–
  Josh Sims   Southampton 2019–2020
  Dru Yearwood   Brentford 2020–

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 FC 2017
  Yoshimar Yotún   Malmö FF 2017
  Dom Dwyer   Sporting Kansas City 2018–
  Sacha Kljestan   New York Red Bulls 2018
  Josué Colmán   Cerro Porteño 2018–2019
  Nani   Sporting CP 2019–
  Mauricio Pereyra   Krasnodar 2019–

Philadelphia Union

Player Previous club Years as DP
  Freddy Adu   Benfica 2011–2012
  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–

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–
  Brian Fernández   Necaxa 2019
  Yimmi Chará   Atlético Mineiro 2020–
  Jarosław Niezgoda   Legia Warsaw 2020–

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–
  Jefferson Savarino   Zulia 2017–2019
  Sam Johnson   Vålerenga 2019–
  Jeizon Ramírez   Deportivo Táchira 2020–

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–
  Magnus Eriksson   Djurgårdens I.F. 2018
  Cristian Espinoza   Villarreal 2020–

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
  Mauro Rosales   River Plate 2011–2013
  Christian Tiffert   1. FC 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–
  Raúl Ruidíaz   Morelia 2018–
  Víctor Rodríguez   Sporting Gijón 2019
  Xavier Arreaga   Barcelona SC 2019
  João Paulo   Botafogo 2020–

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   Liga de 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   KV Mechelen 2018–2019
  Felipe Gutiérrez   Real Betis 2018–
  Johnny Russell   Derby County 2019–
  Alan Pulido   Guadalajara 2020–

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 FC 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–
  Alejandro Pozuelo   Genk 2019–
  Pablo Piatti   Espanyol 2020–

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Player Previous club Years as DP
  Eric Hassli   Zürich 2011–2012
  Mustapha Jarju   R.A.E.C. 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   Udinese 2019–
  Lucas Cavallini   Puebla 2020–

Designated Player Rule Media

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. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060413/asp/sports/story_6093255.asp. 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. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6256125.stm. Retrieved December 1, 2007. 
  5. "Jelle van Damme completes exit from LA Galaxy and joins Royal Antwerp". espnfc.us. ESPN. August 18, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2020.

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