The Major League Soccer annual salaries have been released by the MLSPU, and there are some shocking and eyebrow-raising numbers. Luis Suarez, for example, is earning only $1.5 million in wages, while Xherdan Shaqiri of the Chicago Fire is the fourth highest-paid player in MLS at $8.5 million.
Another tidbit is that top future stars like Diego Luna and Federico Redondo make under $500,000 annually. The most striking data point is that Lionel Messi alone makes more in wages than the entire rosters of 25 teams.
Here is a breakdown of Messi’s salary compared to other teams in MLS.
Salaries in MLS by teams
Lionel Messi alone makes $20,446,667, while Inter Miami as a whole is spending $41.6 million. Tata Martino’s side is the highest spending team in the league. The second highest spending team is Toronto FC at $31.4 million, which includes the high contracts of Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi.
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The Chicago Fire ($25.1M) and Nashville SC ($21.3M) round out the top four spending teams in MLS. This is where Messi surpasses the rest: at $20.4 million, the Argentine’s salary is more than the combined roster salaries of teams like the Seattle Sounders, NYCFC, DC United, Portland Timbers, and Columbus Crew.
The lowest spending team in MLS is St. Louis CITY SC at just $12M, less than the salary made by Lorenzo Insigne, who makes $15.4M.
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