Lionel Messi is getting paid a huge amount in the United States to end his career.
After a rather tense departure from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, the Argentine great turned down Saudi Arabia’s offers and went to the United States to join Inter Miami. Naturally, having what might be the best player of all time in Major League Soccer has made more people want to watch.
It has also added to Messi’s already huge bank account. The MLS Players’ Association is very open about how much their players make, and as you might think, the 36-year-old is well ahead of the rest.
Messi makes almost £17 million a year. That includes a base pay of just under £10m and “guaranteed compensation,” which could be a marketing bonus or something else. This is a lot of money. He makes more than the whole teams of all but three Major League Soccer clubs, and twice as much as all the players at Orlando City, a rival team from Florida that only makes £8 million a year.
Messi’s salary makes up 4% of the MLS’s total £412m salary bill. Lorenzo Insigne of Toronto FC comes next. His base salary and other payments add up to just under £13m. Xherdan Shaqiri, a forward who used to play for Liverpool and Stoke, is in third place with a total of £6.7m.
But that doesn’t fully show how much Messi makes in the US, where he has a contract until 2025. The real amount he makes is three times that amount.
They don’t take into account his success bonuses or other deals he has with the club and its sponsors. Messi is also the subject of a popular Apple TV show about his move to Miami, which makes him a lot of money. Jorge Mas, the owner of the club, said earlier this year that his star player made between £41m and £50m a year.
Even though it was short, Messi had a good first season with Miami. He played in five MLS games and scored one goal, but the team missed the playoffs. But he scored a lot in the new Leagues Cup. He scored 10 goals in seven games and helped Miami win the tournament.
