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, 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.
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.