{"id":268943,"date":"2026-05-13T03:59:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T03:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/268943\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T03:59:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T03:59:25","slug":"lionel-messis-mls-pay-climbs-again-as-inter-miami-star-widens-gap-atop-salary-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/268943\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi’s MLS pay climbs again as Inter Miami star widens gap atop salary rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lionel Messi<\/a> remains the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer by a wide margin, but after re-signing with Inter Miami<\/a> in October, his salary has grown substantially.<\/p>\n

According to data released by the MLS Players Association<\/a> on Tuesday, the Argentine superstar will receive guaranteed compensation of $28.333 million this season \u2014 a 39 percent increase over his 2025 package of $20.446 million.<\/p>\n

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Messi\u2019s base salary grew to $25 million from $12 million. Guaranteed compensation includes base salary and all signing and guaranteed bonuses annualized over the term of the player’s contract, including option years. His new deal runs through the 2028-29 season.<\/p>\n

Taking into account his ownership stake in Inter Miami, Messi collects $70 million to $80 million per year, club owner Jorge Mas told Bloomberg<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n

Still among the world\u2019s elite players \u2014 and still the sport\u2019s most famous \u2014 the 38-year-old forward last year became the first MLS player to win back-to-back MVP awards. He also guided Miami to its first MLS Cup trophy with six goals and nine assists in six playoff matches.<\/p>\n

Since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> late in the 2023 season, Messi has recorded 59 goals and 41 assists in 64 regular season appearances. This year he has nine goals and four assists in 11 matches.<\/p>\n

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He is expected to lead reigning champion Argentina at this summer\u2019s World Cup across North America.<\/p>\n

Two other Miami players cracked the top 25: Argentine midfielder Rodrigo De Paul<\/a> at No. 3 with $9.688 million and Mexican forward Germ\u00e1n Berterame at No. 21 with $3.834 million.<\/p>\n

Second on the compensation list is Korean forward Son Heung-min<\/a>, who made an immediate impact for Los Angeles FC<\/a> last summer after departing Tottenham Hotspur<\/a>. Son has a base salary of $10.368 million and total earnings of $11.152 million.<\/p>\n

Forward Josh Sargent<\/a>, who signed with Toronto FC<\/a> this spring after eight years in Europe, is the highest-paid American at No. 11 with $5.265 million. The only other Americans in the top 25 are FC Cincinnati<\/a> center back Miles Robinson<\/a> (No. 20 with $3.950 million) and Austin FC forward Brandon Vazquez<\/a> (No. 24 with $3.701 million).<\/p>\n

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Of the 917 players under contract this spring, 36 (or 3.9 percent) are guaranteed to earn at least $3 million and 133 (14.5 percent) will earn at least $1 million. That last figure has grown substantially over the years.<\/p>\n

The collective bargaining agreement between the league and the MLSPA cites a minimum base salary of $88,025 for reserve players and $113,400 for senior players. The league-wide average base salary last year was about $350,000.<\/p>\n

The Vancouver Whitecaps<\/a>, who lost to Miami in the 2025 final, have the most players (eight) making at least $1 million in guaranteed compensation this year, followed by Toronto with seven and six other clubs with six. FC Dallas<\/a> and the Philadelphia Union<\/a> have the fewest (one), followed by D.C. United<\/a>, Orlando City<\/a>, Real Salt Lake<\/a> and the San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> with two apiece.<\/p>\n

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Top MLS salaries<\/p>\n

(in millions)<\/p>\n

1. Lionel Messi, Miami $28.333
2. Son Heung-min, LAFC $11.152
3. Rodrigo De Paul, Miami $9.688
4. Hirving Lozano<\/a>, San Diego<\/a> $9.333
5. Miguel Almiron, Atlanta $7.871
6. Emil Forsberg<\/a>, Red Bull NY $6.035
7. Sam Surridge<\/a>, Nashville $5.933
8. Riqui Puig<\/a>, LA Galaxy<\/a> $5.792
9. Jonathan Bamba<\/a>, Chicago $5.581
10. Hany Mukhtar<\/a>, Nashville $5.411
11. Josh Sargent, Toronto $5.265
12. Thomas M\u00fcller, Vancouver $5.125
13. Aleksei Miranchuk<\/a>, Atlanta $5.085
14. Carles Gil<\/a>, New England $4.952
15. Denis Bouanga<\/a>, LAFC $4.939
16. Evander<\/a>, Cincinnati $4.736
17. Joseph Paintsil<\/a>, LA Galaxy $4.502
18. Facundo Torres<\/a>, Austin<\/a> $4.405
19. Timo Werner<\/a>, San Jose $4.268
20. Miles Robinson, Cincinnati $3.950
21. Germ\u00e1n Berterame, Miami $3.834
22. Kevin Denkey<\/a>, Cincinnati $3.810
23. Emmanuel Latte Lath<\/a>, Atlanta $3.736
24. Brandon Vazquez, Austin $3.701
25. Ryan Gauld<\/a>, Vancouver $3.675<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi remains the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer by a wide margin, but after re-signing with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[115474,44198,115466,115468,108420,7775,34246,1657,115475,102651,115472,29643,32011,17158,17149,10197,115469,10073,115470,115471,115467,25438,1660,17156,8003,123,125,124,77561,115465,4786,15267,14193,14243,115473,27823,40267,1656,14248,17150,63688,37842,8005,71826,8006],"class_list":["post-268943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-aleksei-miranchuk","tag-austin","tag-base-salary","tag-brandon-vazquez","tag-carles-gil","tag-compensation","tag-d-c-united","tag-denis-bouanga","tag-denkey","tag-emil-forsberg","tag-emmanuel-latte-lath","tag-evander","tag-facundo-torres","tag-fc-cincinnati","tag-fc-dallas","tag-hany-mukhtar","tag-hirving-lozano","tag-inter-miami","tag-jonathan-bamba","tag-joseph-paintsil","tag-josh-sargent","tag-la-galaxy","tag-lionel-messi","tag-los-angeles-fc","tag-major-league-soccer","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miles-robinson","tag-mls-players-association","tag-orlando-city","tag-paris-saint-germain","tag-philadelphia-union","tag-real-salt-lake","tag-riqui-puig","tag-rodrigo-de-paul","tag-ryan-gauld","tag-sam-surridge","tag-san-diego","tag-san-jose-earthquakes","tag-son-heung-min","tag-timo-werner","tag-toronto-fc","tag-tottenham-hotspur","tag-vancouver-whitecaps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}