The MLSPA revealed MLS player salaries for 2025, and for the third straight year, Inter Miami's Lionel Messi is the highest paid player in the league. The report offered insight into new additions, including LAFC's Son Heung-Min, Messi's teammate Rodrigo De Paul, the Vancouver Whitecaps' Thomas Muller, and Colorado Rapids' Paxten Aaronson.

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  The top 10 highest-paid players

  Inter Miami had two players in the top three: Messi at $20.45 million and Sergio Busquets third at $8.8 million. It is worth noting Messi's recent contract extension is not reflected in these numbers. LAFC's new star Son is second to Messi at $11.45 million. Atlanta United's Miguel Almiron and San Diego FC's Hirving "Chucky" Lozano round out the top five.

  The 10 MLS players with the highest guaranteed compensation in 2025

  Rank	Player	Club	Guaranteed Compensation
  1	Lionel Messi	Miami	$20.45M
  2	Son Heung-Min	LAFC	$11.15M
  3	Sergio Busquets	Miami	$8.78M
  4	Miguel Almiron	Atlanta	$7.87M
  5	Hirving Lozano	San Diego	$7.63M
  6	Emil Forsberg	RBNY	$6.04M
  7	Jordi Alba	Miami	$6.00M
  8	Riqui Puig	LA Galaxy	$5.78M
  9	Jonathan Bamba	Chicago	$5.58M
  10	Hany Mukhtar	Nashville	$5.31M

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  Assessing the summer signing salaries

  This report also revealed the salaries for De Paul and Aaronson. It is worth noting that the salaries of De Paul and the New England Revolution's Matt Turner represent the compensation the clubs are paying while the players are on loan in MLS. 

  Top 10 Highest-Paid MLS Newcomers in 2025

  Player	Club	Guaranteed Compensation
  Son Heung-Min	LAFC	$11.15M
  Rodrigo De Paul	Inter Miami	$3.67M*
  Nico Fernández	NYCFC	$3.65M
  Kristoffer Velde	Portland Timbers	$3.03M
  Djordje Mihailovic	Toronto FC	$2.28M
  Paxten Aaronson	Colorado Rapids	$2.23M
  Wessam Abou Ali	Columbus Crew	$2.18M
  Iván Jaime	CF Montréal	$1.99M
  Matt Turner	New England Revolution	$1.94M
  Rwan Cruz	Real Salt Lake	$1.86M

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  MLS payrolls

  The report also shed light on team payrolls. Inter Miami, at $48.97M, outpace the rest of the league by $18.87 million – with that gap alone higher than the payrolls of 15 clubs in the league. The Herons will have $14.78 million come off the books following this season due to the  retirements of Busquets and Jordi Alba – which could lead to the club bringing in even more talent. 

  LAFC are second at $30.1M, while Atlanta United ($28.5M), FC Cincinnati ($23.2M), and the Chicago Fire ($23.1 M) round out the top five. 

  Guaranteed Compensation for MLS Franchises in 2025 (Source: MLS Players Association)

  Club	Guaranteed Compensation
  Inter Miami	$48.97M
  LAFC	$30.1M
  Atlanta United	$28.5M
  FC Cincinnati	$23.2M
  Chicago Fire	$23.1M
  Nashville SC	$22.4M
  Portland Timbers	$22.4M
  LA Galaxy	$22.3M
  San Diego FC	$22.3M
  New York Red Bulls	$22.1M
  Columbus Crew	$19.2M
  New England Revolution	$19.1M
  Charlotte FC	$19.0M
  NYCFC	$18.8M
  Seattle Sounders	$18.3M
  Sporting Kansas City	$17.6M
  Vancouver Whitecaps	$17.6M
  San Jose Earthquakes	$17.1M
  St. Louis City	$16.9M
  Houston Dynamo	$16.8M
  Orlando City	$16.1M
  Austin FC	$15.7M
  Real Salt Lake	$15.7M
  D.C. United	$14.9M
  Colorado Rapids	$14.6M
  Minnesota United	$14.5M
  Toronto FC	$13.7M
  Philadelphia Union	$13.4M
  FC Dallas	$13.4M
  CF Montréal	$12.92M

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  Inter Miami frustrating the league?

  While Messi has voiced MLS needs more spending, there have reportedly been some frustrations on how his team was able to circumvent the salary cap rules to sign De Paul, according to The Athletic.

  It is worth noting that the Whitecaps used a similar mechanism with Thomas Muller, albeit not a loan, but they did sign the German to a smaller deal this season before a DP option for next season. Muller is making $1.44 million this season, according to the MLSPA. 

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