Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami has carved out a new chapter in his iconic career, and the 2022 World Cup winner is now bidding to become a champion in the USA for the first time.
Messi exploded to life to begin his Inter Miami career, helping the club win its first trophy in the 2023 Leagues Cup. Injuries and fatigue took a toll, however, and the 36-year-old missed key games as Inter Miami missed out on the postseason.
However, his brilliance on the pitch has been clear, and he helped Inter Miami to a strong start in 2024 — one they continued in his mid-season injury absence to claim the Supporters’ Shield and enter the playoffs as favourites for glory.
Of course, securing the services of a player of Messi’s standing rarely comes cheap. Indeed, according to figures released in May 2025 and detailed by The Athletic and New York Times, the former Barcelona star’s salary is greater than the guaranteed compensation totals of 21 different MLS teams.
With the annual release of the Major League Soccer compensation information, Messi’s base salary at Inter Miami is now known.
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Lionel Messi salary, contract at Inter Miami
Messi signed a two-and-a-half-year contract at Inter Miami in 2023, bringing him up to the end of the 2025 season, with a reported option to extend for another 12 months.
According to the 2025 MLS salary guide, released in late June, Messi’s base salary is $12 million, with a total guaranteed compensation of just over $20.4 million — $20,446,667 to be exact.
Those figures make him the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer by a massive margin, and are in line with his compensation the previous season.
The next-highest paid player is Lorenzo Insigne of Toronto FC, whose $7.5 million base salary and $15.4 million total guaranteed compensation don’t come close to Messi’s total. Nobody else in the league outside of those two reach $9 million of guaranteed compensation: the next two on the list are Messi’s team-mate Sergio Busquets ($8.8 million) and Miguel Almiron of Atlanta United ($7.9 million).
Unsurprisingly, Inter Miami top the charts for team spending wages. The Florida franchise’s total guaranteed compensation pay stands at $46.8 million, a whopping $16 million above last year’s total spend. Montreal is lowest at $12 million, marking the second straight season they sport the league’s lowest payroll.
Messi reportedly also received an ownership stake in the club as part of his contract, with advertising and image rights talks ongoing with Apple, Adidas, and others. According to The Miami Herald back in June 2023, when factoring in all aspects of the deal beyond just purely his salary, the deal is worth $125-$150 million (£100m-£120m) in total, broken down at around $4.1-$5m (£3.3-£4m) per month.
Salary database Capology has tabbed his salary as being worth $54 million per year in total, for a three-year total of $162 million.
Lionel Messi on football’s top salary list
Based on the numbers surrounding Messi’s contract, he took a substantial drop from his PSG wages but still earns more than the majority of European stars.
In comparison to players heading to Saudi Arabia, Messi’s contract is significantly reduced, with his ranking set to drop further as more stars join Cristiano Ronaldo and company.
According to Forbes, Ronaldo is the highest-paid athlete of 2025 with earnings of $275 million, marking the second straight year he is the highest-paid athlete in the world. Messi is second on the list at $135 million — his $60 million listed salary likely includes the money he receives from outside just his MLS salary.
| Player | Club | Estimated Annual Salary | Estimated Total Income | |
| 1. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Al Nassr | $225m | $275m |
| 2. | Lionel Messi | Inter Miami | $60m | $135m |
| 3. | Karim Benzema | Al Ittihad | $100m | $104m |
| 4. | Kylian Mbappe | Real Madrid | $70m | $90m |
| 5. | Neymar | Santos | $46m | $76m |
| 6. | Erling Haaland | Man City | $48m | $62m |
Is Lionel Messi worth the money?
Despite his exorbitant price, Lionel Messi been more than worth that money, leading Inter Miami to consistent new heights time and time again.
He helped the club to its first-ever trophy in his first season, leading them to the 2023 Leagues Cup, and with it, a first-ever spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Then, in the 2024 season, he led MLS in goal contributions despite playing roughly half the fixtures. That spurred Inter Miami to its first-ever Supporters’ Shield handed out to the regular season champions, and with it a first-ever home playoff game — which they won, beating Atlanta United 2-1 in the club’s first ever postseason victory.
Can he lead the club to a first-ever MLS Cup title?
