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The Vancouver Whitecaps would like nothing more than to turn a silk purse into a sow’s ear.

Major League Soccer’s big spenders, Toronto FC, will swing their heavy purse into B.C. Place Wednesday night for the first leg of the Canadian Championship. The Reds have a massive payroll of over US$26 million a year — more than $10 million (all figures in U.S. dollars) more than the next highest-spending team, the L.A. Galaxy.

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Vancouver, by comparison, has $8.2 million in payroll on the books.

Photo by DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS

TFC striker Sebastian Giovinco makes $7.1 million himself, followed by midfielder Michael Bradley ($6.5 million) and forward Jozy Altidore ($5 million). The Caps’ big-ticket player is Kei Kamara, who’s on a cool million per, with no other player cracking $745,000.

This year, all that spending has bought Toronto a 6-11-5 record in MLS play.

“Money doesn’t buy you points, it buys you jerseys,” joked Caps fullback Marcel De Jong, who, despite ranking 15th on the Caps’ payroll, has been one of their best players this season.