Lionel Messi more than doubled his salary to $25 million in his new contract with Inter Miami and earns more more than twice as much as the second-highest-paid player in Major League Soccer (MLS), 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 said Tuesday in its first release of 2026 salaries.
He earns more than the payrolls of 28 of the other 29 MLS teams.
Highest paid players in Major League Soccer:
| Player | Club | Base Salary | Total Compensation |
| Lionel Messi | Inter Miami | $25,000,000 | $28,333,333 |
| Son Heung-min | LAFC | $10,368,750 | $11,152,852 |
| Rodrigo de Paul | Inter Miami | $7,569,000 | $9,688,320 |
| Hirving Lozano | San Diego | $6,000,000 | $9,333,333 |
| Miguel Almirón | Atlanta United | $6,056,000 | $7,871,000 |
| Emil Forsberg | NY Red Bulls | $5,405,000 | $6,035,625 |
| Sam Surridge | Nashville SC | $5,270,000 | $5,933,000 |
| Riqui Puig | LA Galaxy | $5,125,000 | $5,792,188 |
| Thomas Müller | Vancouver | $5,000,004 | $5,152,504 |
| Jonathan Bamba | Chicago Fire | $5,000,000 | $5,581,806 |
Messi’s initial MLS contract, agreed to in July 2023, included a $12 million base salary and annualised guaranteed 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.
An attacker who turns 39 next month, Messi is captain of defending World Cup champion Argentina and is expected 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 in the last campaign and won his second straight MVP award.
His salary figures are for his MLS contract and include any marketing bonus and agent’s fees but do not account for any additional agreements with the team or its affiliates, or for any performance bonuses.
Economic trends in MLS
Miami’s $54.6 million payroll is more than $20 million higher than LAFC, which is second at $32.7 million, and nearly five times as much as Philadelphia’s league-low $11.7 million. Miami’s payroll is up from $46.8 million at the start of last season.
Toronto cut payroll to $21.4 million from $34.1 million at the start of 2025, and LAFC boosted its 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 as of last October 1.
MLS’s median salary — the point an equal number of players earned above and below — rose 4.1% to $352,104 from $338,347 last fall. There were 133 players earning $1 million or more, up from 131 at the start of last season and 91 at the start of 2022.
(with inputs from The Associated Press)
Published on May 13, 2026