Lionel Messi remains Major League Soccer’s highest earner, with a base salary of $25 million (£18.5 million) per year — more than double the league’s second-highest paid player.
Disclosure from the MLS Players Association reflects the contract extension the 39-year-old Argentina star signed with Inter Miami last October. His guaranteed compensation now totals $28.3 million (£20.9 million), doubling his previous base pay.
LAFC forward Son Heung-min occupies second place with a base salary of $10.4 million (£7.7 million) and $11.2 million (£8.3 million) in guaranteed compensation. The 33-year-old former Tottenham attacker earns slightly more than Inter Miami’s Rodrigo de Paul and San Diego FC’s Hirving Lozano.
The figures do not include endorsement income or Messi’s option to acquire an ownership stake in Inter Miami, which is co-owned by David Beckham.
Since joining the Florida club in 2023, Messi has scored 59 goals in 64 regular-season MLS matches, helping Miami win the MLS Cup in 2025. He led the league with 29 goals last season and earned Most Valuable Player honors in each of the two full MLS seasons he has played so far — 2004 and 2005.
