Every Designated Player in MLS in 2026

Analysis

Tom Weber | Writer

Created in 2007, the Designated Player (DP) rule changed Major League Soccer forever.

The rule was implemented to allow the LA Galaxy to sign David Beckham from Real Madrid and to pay him a hefty $6.5 million per year. At the time, this was $4.4m more than the salary cap for the entire team, illustrating the need for more roster flexibility.

It became colloquially known as the Beckham Rule because of the English superstar, heralding the start of the MLS 2.0 era and marking a significant qualitative leap from the first decade of the league's existence by allowing clubs to pay star players whatever they wanted.

Over the years, the rule has been amended, while other roster mechanisms such as Allocation Money, U22 Initiative spots and cash-for-player trades have been devised to allow for even greater flexibility.

As of 2026, MLS clubs are allowed to register three DPs. If a DP is placed on the season-ending injury list or loaned out to a club that covers his full salary, a replacement can be signed.

Clubs may sacrifice one of their DP spots for an U22 Initiative slot, allowing them to sign four U22s who sit outside of the salary cap instead of three. However, they are not allowed to do the opposite and trade an U22 slot for a DP spot.

DPs over the age of 24 who are signed in the primary transfer window (January-March) count as $803,125 against the salary cap ($6.425m) this year. Those signed in the secondary window (July-September) only carry a budget charge of $401,563, which is why clubs often prefer to wait until the summer. DPs are cheaper, and European stars are generally easier to acquire.

DPs under 24 (Young Designated Players) count as $150,000 against the salary cap if they are 20 or younger or if they were signed in the summer, while those signed in the spring aged between 21 and 23 carry a charge of $200,000.

Clubs are incentivised to have at least one Young DP on their roster. If they have three senior DPs, they have to pay the league $150,000. This fee is then shared between the clubs that have only used two DP spots and made available as additional General Allocation Money the following season.

Below, FootballTransfers lists every DP currently in MLS...

Atlanta United

Aleksei Miranchuk

Miguel Almiron

Breel Embolo

Austin FC

Brandon Vazquez

Myrto Uzuni

Facundo Torres

CF Montreal

Alexis Sanchez

Charlotte FC

Liel Abada

Allan Saint-Maximin

Chicago Fire

Robert Lewandowski

Jonathan Bamba

Philip Zinckernagel

Colorado Rapids

Morgan Whittaker

Paxten Aaronson

Columbus Crew

Santiago Rodriguez

Brais Mendez

Wessam Abou Ali (injured)

DC United

Tai Baribo

Louis Munteanu

FC Cincinnati

Evander

Kevin Denkey

Miles Robinson

FC Dallas

Petar Musa

Santiago Moreno

Houston Dynamo

Guilherme

Mateusz Bogusz

Inter Miami

Lionel Messi

Rodrigo De Paul

German Berterame

LA Galaxy

Joao Klauss

Hirving Lozano

Joseph Paintsil

Riqui Puig (injured)

Los Angeles FC

Denis Bouanga

Son Heung-min

Minnesota United

Kelvin Yeboah

Joaquin Pereyra

Nashville SC

Hany Mukhtar

Cristian Espinoza

Sam Surridge

New England Revolution

Carles Gil

Matt Turner

Jack Harrison

New York City FC

Benie Traore

Talles Magno

Nicolas Fernandez

New York Red Bulls

Emil Forsberg

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting

Jorge Ruvalcaba

Orlando City

Martin Ojeda

Marco Pasalic

Antoine Griezmann

Philadelphia Union

Bruno Damiani

Kai Wagner

Portland Timbers

David Da Costa

Kristoffer Velde

Real Salt Lake

Morgan Guilavogui

Justen Glad

San Diego FC

Elias Achouri

Anders Dreyer

Marcus Ingvartsen

San Jose Earthquakes

Timo Werner

Eduard Lowen

Seattle Sounders

Pedro de la Vega

Jordan Morris

Dejan Joveljic

Sporting Kansas City

Andre Luiz

St. Louis CITY

Rafael Navarro

Roman Burki

Carlo Holse

Toronto FC

Djordje Mihailovic

Josh Sargent

Niklas Dorsch

Vancouver Whitecaps

Ryan Gauld

Thomas Muller