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Lionel Messi more than doubled his salary to $25 million in his new deal with Inter Miami and earns more than twice as much as Major League Soccer’s second-highest paid player, Los Angeles FC’s Son Heung-min.
Messi’s new contract includes $25 million in base salary and $28,333,333 in guaranteed compensation, the MLS Players’ Association announced Tuesday in its first release of 2026 salaries.
Miami’s payroll of $54.6 million is more than $20 million higher than that of LAFC, which comes in second at $32.7 million, and nearly five times that of Philadelphia, the league’s lowest, of $11.7 million. Miami’s payroll is up from $46.8 million at the start of last season.
Toronto reduced payroll to $21.4 million from $34.1 million at the start of 2025, and LAFC increased spending to $32.7 million from $22.4 million.
Total league compensation was $631 million and the average guaranteed compensation of $688,816 on April 16 was up 8.9% from $632,809 last October 1.
Messi’s initial MLS contract, agreed in July 2023, included a base salary of $12 million and guaranteed annualized compensation of $20,446,667. Messi agreed last October to a three-year contract through the 2028 season, then led the team to its first MLS title.
A forward who turns 39 next month, Messi is captain of reigning World Cup champions Argentina and is set to play in his sixth World Cup. Messi has 59 goals in 64 regular season games with Miami, including nine in 11 matches this season. He led MLS with 29 regular season goals last season and won his second consecutive MVP award.
His salary figures are for his MLS contract and include marketing bonuses and agent fees, but do not take into account additional agreements with the team or its affiliates or performance bonuses.
Son is second with $10,368,750 in base salary and $11,152,852 in total compensation, the same numbers as last season. The 33-year-old winger joined Los Angeles last August.
Midfielder Rodrigo de Paul, who signed with Miami last summer, is third with $7,569,000 in salary and $9,688,320 in total compensation, followed by Atlanta winger Miguel Almiron ($6,056,000, $7,871,000), San Diego winger Hirving Lozano ($6 million, $9,333,333 $) and New York Red Bulls winger Emil Forsberg. ($5,405,000, $6,035,625), Nashville forward Sam Surridge ($5.27 million, $5,933,000), LA Galaxy midfielder Rigui Puig ($5,125,000, $5,792,188), Vancouver forward Thomas Müller ($5,000,004, $5,152 $504) and Chicago winger Jonathan Bamba ($5 million, $5,152,504). $5,581,806).
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Cincinnati defender Miles Robinson topped MLS players vying for spots on the U.S. World Cup roster with $3.5 million in base salary and $3.95 million in total compensation, followed by New England goalkeeper Matt Turner ($1,776,136, $1,942,886), Seattle midfielder Crisitian Roldan ($1,645,000, 1 $766,000), from Charlotte midfielder Tim Ream. ($1 million, $1,127,750), Columbus goalie Patrick Schulte ($900,000, $1,032,083), Columbus left guard/winger Max Arfsten ($800,000, $895,000), New York goalie Matt Freese ($675,000, $795,833), Cincinnati goalie Roman Celentano ($525,000, $574,000), Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna ($450,000, $500,833), Vancouver midfielder Sebastian Berhalter ($480,000) and Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady ($250,000, $348,333).
Newcomers to the league include Toronto forward Josh Sargent ($3.21 million, $5,265,667), San Jose forward Timo Werner ($3,738,872, $4,268,039), Salt Lake winger Morgan Guilavogui ($2.2 million, $2,225,500), Houston forward Guilherme ($1 $528,572, $1,925,230), LAFC midfielder Stephen Eustagio ($1.8 million), DC forward Louis Munteanu ($1.19 million, $1,634,100) and Minnesota midfielder James Rodriguez ($684,000).
Associated Press reporting.
