2026 MLS salaries: Lionel Messi earnings dwarf the wage bills of 28 clubs

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

The Major League Soccer Player Association has released the first of its biannual salary guides, and Inter Miami star Lionel Messi remains the best-paid player in the league - by some distance.

Every year, the MLSPA publishes the guaranteed compensation of players in the league. This is done to provide maximum transparency, not necessarily for the public, but chiefly for the players themselves, to allow them to see what their peers earn.

The first salary guide is released following the conclusion of the primary transfer window in the spring, and an updated version follows after the secondary window closes in the summer.

Lionel Messi has been the best-paid player in MLS since joining Inter Miami in 2023. This year, the Argentine is due to earn $28.33 million, which is a handsome increase compared to last year's $20.45m. He received a raise as part of his new contract in October.

However, the salary guide only takes into account the income from MLS contracts. Messi actually makes up to $80m per year, according to Miami co-owner Jorge Mas, because he receives cuts from sponsorship deals and other sources.

Messi towers above the rest

Even without his other earnings, Messi's salary towers above the rest of MLS. In fact, his guaranteed compensation is larger than the total wage bills of all but one club in the league.

That club is LAFC, who pay MLS record signing Son Heung-min $11.15m, an unchanged figure from last year and enough for him to maintain his spot as the second-highest-paid player in the league.

Rodrigo de Paul is now in third place, taking the spot of Sergio Busquets. He earned a base salary of just $1.5m during his six-month loan last year because Miami did not have a Designated Player (DP) spot available for him. This year, De Paul makes $9.69m.

Incredibly, Hirving Lozano's earnings have risen from $7.63m to $9.33m. San Diego pay the fourth-highest salary in MLS to a player who has been told that he will never play for the club again.

Chucky has overtaken Atlanta United winger Miguel Almiron, whose earnings of $7.87m remain unchanged from last year. The same goes for Emil Forsberg of Red Bull New York, who is on $6.04m.

New on this list is Nashville's star striker Sam Surridge after he received a bumper new contract earlier this year. He wasn't even among the top 25 earners last year, but he now makes $5.93m.

There are a few more notable new names further down the list. Toronto FC striker Josh Sargent, who could overtake Son as the league's record signing if all the bonuses in his deal are triggered, makes $5.27m in guaranteed compensation.

He is followed by Thomas Muller. Like De Paul, the Vancouver Whitecaps superstar played on reduced terms during his first six months in MLS. He now earns $5.15m after being signed to a DP deal.

LAFC handed Denis Bouanga a new contract to fend off interest from Miami and Fluminense, but the Gabon international still feels somewhat underpaid at $4.94m, considering that he has been one of the best forwards in league history since joining in 2022.

MLS returnee Facundo Torres, now at Austin, makes $4.41m, which is slightly more than San Jose Earthquakes star Timo Werner at $4.27m. Miami's new star striker German Berterame makes a fairly modest - by the Herons' standards - $3.82m.

Naturally, Miami have the biggest wage bill of any MLS franchise with $54.6m. That is almost $22m more than LAFC with $32.7m. Reigning Supporters' Shield holders Philadelphia Union are bottom of the Eastern Conference and bottom of the expenditure list with just $11.7m.