Messi will receive a salary of about 20.4 million USD (more than 518 billion VND) for his first full season with Inter Miami (2024), of which 12 million USD is the base salary. The salary of the 37-year-old Argentine player is also higher than the entire salary of 22 other clubs in MLS, according to the Miami Herald (USA).
“Messi’s total contract value with Inter Miami in the two-and-a-half-year contract, is valued at $150 million (about 3.8 trillion VND), including the equity in the club after he retires. Messi’s contract is valid until the end of the 2025 season with an option to extend until 2026. The figures for Messi’s current reported salary do not include major sponsorship deals (such as with Apple TV, Adidas …) and dozens of other companies he signed before and after coming to play in the US,” the Miami Herald revealed.
Accordingly, Messi’s actual income in 2024, recently announced by Forbes magazine (USA), totals up to 135 million USD (about 3.4 trillion VND), second only to famous player Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s highest earner with up to 285 million USD (about 7.1 trillion VND).
In addition to his salary at Inter Miami, Messi has additional income from the Apple TV MLS television rights deal, and shirt sales with Adidas, bringing his total base salary to around $60 million a year. These two partners are the ones who shared Messi’s salary with Inter Miami, when they convinced him to play in the US in July 2023.
In addition, other activities outside the field from sponsorship and commercial contracts, help Messi earn an additional 75 million USD. Thereby, helping him remain in the top of the highest-earning players in the world.
Not only Messi, his former teammates at Barcelona, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba, are also the highest paid players at Inter Miami today. Busquets’ guaranteed salary is 8.8 million USD, followed by Alba and Suarez with 1.5 million USD.
Inter Miami also has the highest payroll in MLS (29 clubs total) with $41.7 million. The seventh team on the list is Houston Dynamo with a total payroll of $20.52 million. Meanwhile, the remaining 22 clubs have a total payroll of less than the $20.4 million Inter Miami is paying Messi.
Two veteran players who have just joined MLS, Olivier Giroud (Los Angeles FC) and Marco Reus (LA Galaxy), are not in the top 10 highest paid players. Olivier Giroud only receives about $3.6 million, while Marco Reus receives slightly less than that.
In a similar development, at an event at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on October 24, Messi donated $500,000 to support World Central Kitchen, a non-profit organization, to help victims of the recent hurricanes Milton and Helene in the US. The Hard Rock Stadium organizers also donated $500,000.
