Lionel Messi tops MLS salary list with record $20 million - ESPN

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi is MLS' highest-paid player, with a league-record annual guaranteed compensation of $20 million, the MLS Players Association announced Wednesday.

That mark includes just Messi's salary. Earlier this year, Miami co-owner Jorge Mas revealed to Spanish outlet El País that Messi's total compensation, which includes a cut from the league's Apple TV deal, is in the $50 million to $60 million range.

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Messi's midseason arrival, along with that of teammates Sergio Busquets ($1.775 million) and Jordi Alba ($1.25 million), vaulted the Herons to the top of the MLS team salary rankings, with total guaranteed compensation of $39.419 million. That is more than double the $18.88 million the team was spending this time last year.

Messi's guaranteed salary is the highest in the history of MLS, beating out Toronto FC's Lorenzo Insigne, who is second on Wednesday's list at $15.4 million. The Chicago Fire's Xherdan Shaqiri ($8.15 million), the LA Galaxy's Javier «Chicharito» Hernandez ($7.44 million) and Toronto's Federico Bernardeschi ($6.3 million) round out the top five.

All data is as of Sept. 15, 2023. The salary data was annualized for players like Messi who joined the league during the summer transfer window.

The arrival of Messi helped push the average guaranteed base compensation for the entire MLS player pool to $543,207, up 5.5% from the September 2022 mark of $514,729. The salaries of players at the bottom of the wage scale continue to improve, as the league's median guaranteed base compensation was $282,125, up 13.4% from the September 2022 mark of $248,688.

MLS and the MLSPA are in the third year of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA)