Lionel Messi’s $20.4m Inter Miami income exceeds payrolls of all but four MLS teams

Lionel Messi's contract with Inter Miami in the MLS guarantees him a yearly salary of $20.4 million, meaning he'll earn more than all but four teams in the league in his debut season.

Last summer, Messi signed with Inter Miami and according to the MLS Players Association, he has a base salary of $10.4 million and an annualized compensation of $20,446,667. This is the first time the organization has released salary information in 2024.

The numbers mentioned include the money that Messi gets from his contract with MLS, which is valid till 2025. This money includes any extra payments for marketing or towards agents. However, this doesn't consider any other deals that he might have with the team or any other bonuses that he might get based on his performance. Apart from this, a publication named Forbes has stated that Messi earned $70 million in the past year from endorsements.

Messi plays alongside some top-notch players like Sergio Busquets, who earns a salary of $8.8 million, Luis Suárez, and Jordi Alba on the left-back position, both earning $1.5 million.

Next month, Messi will be celebrating his 37th birthday. He has currently scored 10 goals during this season, which is just one goal away from leading the MLS.

Miami has the highest payroll in the league, coming in at a whopping $41.7 million. This is twice as much as Toronto, which has a payroll of $31.4 million, and even more than the Chicago Fire, which has a payroll of $25.1 million. Surprisingly, Nashville's roster, which has a payroll of $21.4 million, earns more money than Messi. On the other end of the spectrum, St. Louis has the lowest payroll out of all 29 teams, coming in at just $12 million. This is slightly lower than the payrolls of both Salt Lake and San Jose, which are both at $13.6 million.

At the beginning of last year, the LA Galaxy reduced their salary expenses from $23.5m to $17.9m. Likewise, Atlanta also lowered their payroll from $21.3m to $16.7m. However, Toronto went against the trend and increased their salary cap from $25.7m, which was the highest in the league at the start of 2023. Additionally, Nashville also raised their payroll from $14m.

Lorenzo Insigne, who plays for Toronto as a winger, receives the second-highest salary at $15.4 million. Busquets follows him, and Chicago midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri is next with a salary of $8.2 million. Austin midfielder Sebastián Driussi earns $6.7 million, while Federico Bernardeschi, another winger from Toronto, earns $6.3 million. Finally, New York Red Bulls midfielder Emil Forsberg earns $6 million.

The usual basic pay for senior roster players, excluding designated players who only partly contribute to a team's salary cap, has increased by 8.4% from $473,292 from the beginning of last year. The average guaranteed compensation is $594,389.

The overall payment received by the players who have signed to play is $519 million, which has increased by 12.8% compared to $460 million from the previous season, and also from $394 million at the onset of 2022.

In the United States national team squad, Walker Zimmerman, who plays as a defender in Nashville, had a complete payment of $3.5 million. Jesús Ferreira, who is a forward in Dallas, had the second-highest payment of $2.2 million. Jordan Morris, Seattle's winger, followed with $1.7 million, alongside Djordje Mihailovic, a midfielder in Colorado, and Miles Robinson, a defender in Cincinnati, who both received $1.7 million. The Seattle midfielder Cristian Roldan's full compensation was $1.5 million, while DeAndre Yedlin, who is currently Cincinnati's right-back, earned $898,750.