Messi ahead of Son and Müller - Major League Soccer salaries revealed

The MLS Player Association (MLSPA) has released its latest salary guide for Major League Soccer. The list includes both the base salary and the guaranteed compensation of every player. Those are the only official salaries that count against the MLS salary cap, and the list doesn’t include endorsement deals players might have with third parties. This might explain why Lionel Messi is often cited as earning around $70-80m, even though his actual guaranteed compensation at Inter Miami CF was $28.33m.

Still, Messi’s guaranteed compensation alone makes him the highest-paid player in MLS this season. The Argentine ranks ahead of LAFC star Heung-min Son. The South Korean will receive a guaranteed compensation of $11.15m from the Los Angeles club this season. In third place is another Inter Miami star. Rodrigo de Paul, who was originally signed on loan to a Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) deal last season that earned him a base salary of $1.5m and guaranteed compensation of $3.62m, will receive a guaranteed compensation of $9.69m this season.

The two Argentines, who are also likely to represent their country at the 2026 World Cup, have at least earned their salaries. Both were instrumental in Inter Miami winning the MLS Cup last season, and this year the Herons are once again one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. The same can’t be said for the fourth player on the list: Hirving Lozano. Despite being suspended from the club, the Mexican winger will receive $9.33m at San Diego FC this season. Lozano fell out with the coaching staff during last season’s MLS Cup run, and then, ahead of the season, the club announced that the Mexican was free to find a new club. But given Lozano’s MLS salary, it is easy to understand why the 30-year-old is more than willing to sit out the remainder of his contract.

Major League Soccer salaries: Sargent highest paid American – Müller 12th, Werner 19th

Meanwhile, the highest-paid American player on the list plays in Canada. Toronto FC paid $22 million (€18.7m) plus $5m (€4.2m) in add-ons to Norwich City for the US men’s national team striker Josh Sargent in February, making him the biggest signing in club history, and the third most expensive signing in MLS behind Son, and Atlanta United’s Emmanuel Latte Lath (overview). According to the MLSPA, Sargent will earn a guaranteed compensation of $5.27m this season.

That salary ranks Sargent ahead of one of the league’s biggest stars: Thomas Müller. A 2014 World Cup winner with Germany, Müller joined the Vancouver Whitecaps on a TAM deal that earned him an annualized guaranteed compensation of just $1.44m last season. It was money well spent by the Whitecaps as Müller led the ‘Caps to the club’s first-ever MLS Cup final, where they lost 3-1 to Inter Miami. Müller will be a Designated Player this season, and his contract will provide guaranteed compensation of $5.15m.

One of Müller’s former Germany teammates is also on the list. The San Jose Earthquakes signed Timo Werner on a free transfer from RB Leipzig this winter. The move paid off for San Jose as Werner has scored four goals and three assists in seven games for the Quakes this season. Financially, it was also a good move for the 30-year-old German. Werner will earn a guaranteed compensation of $4.27m in California. That ranks him just ahead of another new arrival to the league: Germán Berterame. The Mexican, who joined Inter Miami as a DP this winter, will earn $3.82m this season. Unlike Werner, however, Berterame has struggled, scoring just three goals and two assists in 12 MLS games this season.