Imagining the ultimate salary-cap compliant 2016 MLS roster

The Major League Soccer Players Union released Wednesday the full salary list of all of its members, revealing how much the league's players are earning this season.

There are, as expected, some incredibly overpriced players (we're looking at you, Mix Diskerud), and the disparity between the lowest-paid players ($51,500) and some big-money names like Frank Lampard ($6 million) is as vast as ever.

In the spirit of good fun and tinkering, here's a 25-man team that (we hope) is roster compliant in MLS, assuming a few things: that all figures listed by the Union are accurate; that this fantasy team only exists in 2016 and not beyond due to purposes relating to back-ended contracts; finally, that this team is based in the United States so Canadian players count as internationals.

With that in mind, here's our take on the best possible salary-cap compliant roster in MLS:

Goalkeepers

• Luis Robles (Red Bulls - $267,500)
• Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas - $76,875) Supplemental Roster
• Matt Lampson (Chicago Fire - $76,625) Supplemental Roster

Defenders

• Tyrone Mears (Seattle - $184,000)
• Matt Hedges (FC Dallas - $152,000)
• Nat Borchers (Portland - $255,000)
• Chris Tierney (New England - $133,333)
• Eric Gehrig (Chicago Fire - $112,708)
• Steven Birnbaum (D.C. United - $116,350)
• Tyson Wahl (Columbus Crew - $115,000)
• Seth Sinovic (Sporting KC - $112,666)

Midfielders

• Diego Chara (Portland - $172,000)
• Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew - $178,250)
• Kaka (Orlando City - $7,167,500) Designated Player
• Scott Caldwell (New England - $110,000)
• Victor Ulloa (FC Dallas - $132,500)
• Mauro Rosales (FC Dallas - $62,500) Supplemental Roster
• Kwadwo Poku (NYCFC - $70,722) Supplemental Roster

Forwards

• David Villa (New York City FC - $5,610,000)
• Cyle Larin (Orlando - $177,000)
• Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC - $7,155,555)
• Fabian Castillo (FC Dallas - $170,000)
• Mike Grella (Red Bulls - $155,000)
• Tsubasa Endoh (Toronto FC - $51,500) Roster spot 25-28

This is how this team might line up on matchday:

(Squad creator: sofifa.com)

So, how did we pick these 25 players?

The team plays in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the squad trying to comply as much as possible with MLS roster rules and regulations. However, some parts required speculation.

Since the side features three Designated Players, $1,372,500 of the $3,660,000 salary cap is gone, leaving $2,287,500 to play with for the rest of the roster, which was also given a limit of 10 international players.

Allocation money was a tricky part; $800,000 in targeted allocation money (TAM) was left ignored since it applies to new signings, but the calculation for general allocation money (GAM) is by no means concrete. Since teams can use allocation money to buy down contracts, and since the league has a non-disclosure policy, we took a look at an average roster as an example.

In this case, D.C. United was over budget by about $800,000 without allocation money, so it was given a conservative $500,000 in GAM funds. That, combined with three DPs, afforded the side $2,787,500 in salary-cap space to use for the remaining 17 players, since roster spots 21 to 24 don't count against the cap as part of any team's supplemental roster.

In the end, this team was left with a surplus of $19,193.