Top 10 MLS Salaries in 2026: Lionel Messi Earns Giant Pay Raise

LAFC superstar Son Heung-min makes the second-most in MLS after Lionel Messi.

Lionel Messi is in the twilight on his legendary career. | Megan Briggs/Getty Images

The MLS Players Association released the annualized salaries for each player in the league for the first time in 2026, and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi remains the league’s highest-paid player for the third year in a row and earned a huge pay raise.

The salaries, released Tuesday, are the first of two annual releases by the MLSPA and are current as of April 16, 2026. The average guaranteed compensation for the league’s players is $688,816.

Messi signed a three-year contract extension with the Herons through the 2028 season last October, right before leading the club to its first MLS Cup title. His base salary of $25 million, including guaranteed compensation of $28.3 million, this season marks a drastic increase from the $12 million base and guaranteed compensation of $20.4 million he earned last year, per the MLS Players Association salary guide from October.

While the 38-year-old Argentinian superstar’s salary makes him by far the U.S. top flight’s highest-paid player, he actually takes home significantly more cash. Inter Miami actually pay him $70 to $80 million annually, according to club owner Jorge Mas, making the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and World Cup champion the second-highest paid player in the world, behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s estimated $230 on-field salary with Al Nassr.

In addition to his salary, Messi earns money through an MLS-related deal with adidas and receives a cut of revenue sharing from Apple TV, among other business ventures, all of which brought his annual earnings to around $135 million in 2025, a number that has likely increased this season, with the salary pay raise and plethora of 2026 FIFA World Cup endorsements.

Way behind Messi, LAFC’s Son Heung-min is the second highest-paid player in MLS with a base salary of of $10.3 million and guaranteed compensation of $11.1 million. Miami’s Rodrigo De Paul sits in third with a base salary of $7.5 million and guaranteed compensation of $9.6 million.

Here’s a look at the top 10 salaries in MLS in 2026, which include players for nine different clubs.

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Top 10 Player Salaries in MLS as of April 16, 2026

Son Heung-min (left) and Lionel Messi have the highest salaries in MLS. | Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Player	Club	Base Salary	Guaranteed Comp
1. Lionel Messi	Inter Miami	$25,000,000	$28,333,333
2. Son Heung-min	LAFC	$10,368,750	$11,152,852
3. Rodrigo De Paul	Inter Miami	$7,569,000	$9,688,320
4. Miguel Almirón	Atlanta United	$6,056,000	$7,871,000
5. Hirving Lozano	San Diego FC	$6,000,000	$9,333,333
6. Emil Forsberg	New York Red Bulls	$5,405,000	$6,035,625
7. Sam Surridge	Nashville SC	$5,280,000	$5,933,000
8. Ricard Puig Martí	LA Galaxy	$5,125,000	$5,792,188
9. Thomas Müller	Vancouver Whitecaps	$5,000,004	$5,152,504
10. Jonathan Bamba	Chicago Fire FC	$5,000,000	$5,581,806

Guaranteed compensation includes a player’s base salary and all signing and guaranteed bonuses annualized over the term of the player’s contract, including option years, per MLSPA.

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