Highest-paid MLS players confirmed, Lionel Messi is miles ahead of everyone

Lionel Messi is set to earn huge money having made the move from Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami. Here’s how his salary compares to the rest of the Major League Soccer.

On Sunday, David Beckham welcomed Messi onto the Inter Miami pitch, unveiling the attacker to 20,000 fans in what was a symbolic and seismic moment for the MLS.

Beckham, who was the catalyst for growth in the league when he signed for LA Galaxy from Real Madrid back in 2007, now boasts arguably the greatest player of all time.

While Messi had interest from the Saudi Pro League and former club Barcelona he opted to join Miami.

Messi has been on lucrative contracts his entire career, having earned up to £136million per year in both salary and incentives while at Barcelona. As per GOAL that included a £466,000 a week wage.

The 36-year-old is earning considerably less at Miami, but he remains among the highest earners in the sport, and far-and-away the highest earner in the MLS.

Messi is reportedly on a staggering $54million (£41million) base salary, which could potentially rise to around $62million (£47million).

When considering the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s highest potential earnings, that figure breaks down to £3.67million a month, £918,369 a week, £131,196 a day, £5,466 an hour, £91.11 a minute and £1.52 a second.

Indeed, Chicago Fire's Xherdan Shaqiri previously topped the MLS top earners charts on $8million (£6.12million) a year - a mere drop in the ocean in comparison.

Check out the top ten highest earners in the MLS below, as per the MLS Players Association salary guide:

Lionel Messi, Inter Miami: $54million (£41million)

Xherdan Shaqiri, Chicago Fire: $8.2million (£6.36million)

Lorenzo Insigne, Toronto FC: $7.5million (£5.81million)

Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, LA Galaxy: $7.4million (£5.74million)

Federico Bernardeschi, Toronto FC: $6.3million (£4.88million)

Sebastián Driussi, Austin FC: $6million (£4.65million)

Héctor Herrera, Houston Dynamo: $5.3million (£4.11million)

Douglas Costa, LA Galaxy: $4.5 million (£3.49million)

Luiz Araújo, Atlanta United: $4.5 million (£3.49million)

Christian Benteke, DC United: $4.4 million (£3.41million)

Topics: Lionel Messi, MLS, Xherdan Shaqiri, Inter Miami

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.