Top 20 MLS Salaries in 2025: Lionel Messi Leads Charts by Considerable Margin

Lorenzo Insigne of Toronto FC makes the second most amount in MLS after Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is the highest-paid player in MLS for the second year in a row. / Hannah Mckay-Reuters via Imagn Images

The MLS Players’ Association released the salaries for each player in the league for the first time in 2025, and Inter Miami CF's Lionel Messi remained the league’s highest-paid player for the second year in a row. 

The salaries, released on June 25, are the first of two annual releases by the MLSPA and are current as of May 23, 2025. 

While Messi’s salary, which includes guaranteed compensation of $20.45 million, makes him the highest-paid player, he takes home significantly more cash. According to Sportico, he could earn over $150 million during his two-and-a-half-year spell with Inter Miami. 

In addition to his salary, Messi earns through an MLS-related deal with adidas and receives a cut of subscriptions to the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. 

Behind Messi, Toronto FC’s Lorenzo Insigne is the second highest-paid player in MLS with a guaranteed compensation of $15.44 million, with Miami’s Sergio Busquets in third with significantly less at $8.5 million. 

Inter Miami also had the highest salary total, at $46.84 million, a $5 million increase from their league record total in 2024. Behind them are Toronto’s  $34.13 million and Atlanta United’s $27.63 million. 

Meanwhile, the lowest spending team is CF Montréal, whose total salaries add up to just $11.99 million. Other teams among the lowest spenders include the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Union, at $13.37 million, Real Salt Lake, at $13.41 million, and Minnesota United, at $13.8 million.

Here’s a look at the top salaries in MLS in 2025.

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Top 20 Player Salaries in MLS as of May 23, 2025

Player	Club	Guaranteed Compensation
1. Lionel Messi	Inter Miami	$20,446,667
2. Lorenzo Insigne	Toronto FC	$15,400,000
3. Sergio Busquets	Inter Miami	$8,774,996
4. Miguel Almiron	Atlanta United	$7,871,000
5. Hirving Lozano	San Diego FC	$7,633,333
6. Federico Bernardeschi	Toronto FC	$6,295,381
7. Emil Forsberg	New York Red Bulls	$6,035,625
8. Jordi Alba	Inter Miami	$6,000,000
9. Riqui Puig	LA Galaxy	$5,779,688
10. Jonathan Bamba	Chicago Fire FC	$5,581,806
11. Hany Mukhtar	Nashville SC	$5,311,667
12. Christian Benteke	D.C. United	$4,937,500
13. Alexey Miranchuk	Atlanta United	$4,885,441
14. Evander	FC Cincinnati	$4,736,411
15. Carles Gil	New England Revolution	$4,702,083
16. Luciano Acosta	FC Dallas	$4,296,413
17. Joseph Paintsil	LA Galaxy	$4,182,000
18. Emmanuel Latte Lath	Atlanta United	$4,030,546
19. Luis Muriel	Orlando City SC	$4,003,333
20. Kévin Denkey	FC Cincinnati	$3,810,000

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