Lionel Messi's salary has been officially disclosed by the MLS, who published the top ten highest-earners in the league.
Ahead of the next round of MLS fixtures, MLSPA (MLS Players Association) have shared information on player wages for the third year running as part of a collective bargaining agreement that runs until 2027.
The data has been recorded as of September 15 and to the surprise of nobody, Messi is the highest-paid player in the American top tier.The Inter Miami star has a base salary of $12 million but he is also entitled to an extra $8.4 million through signing-on fees and bonuses.
Messi signed a deal with the Herons in July and Inter owner Jorge Mas had told El Pais that he would earn between $50 million to $60 million per year.That factors in Messi's unique arrangements, whereby he takes a cut of money earned from Adidas' shirt sales and the lucrative Apple TV deal.
Fellow Barcelona legends and now Inter teammates Sergio Busquets ($1.775 million) and Jordi Alba ($1.25 million) do not feature in the top ten but Gerardo Martino's side lead the wage bill with $39.419 million in "guaranteed compensation".
Messi earns more on his own than 25 of the 29 MLS outfits.Former Napoli star Lorenzo Insigne, now at Toronto, and ex Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Stoke winger Xherdan Shaqiri complete the top three with total salaries of $15.4 million and $8.1 million respectively.
Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez of LA Galaxy ($7.44 million) and Federico Bernardeschi ($6.3 million) - another Italian plying their trade at Toronto - both make the top five.Douglas Costa ($4.5 million) and Christian Benteke ($4.43 million) are also other notable names in the top ten.
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