The MLS Players Association released 2026 salary information Tuesday, giving a first look at how much money new stars are earning and how much all 30 clubs are spending on wages.
Lionel Messi is far and away the league’s highest-paid player at $28.33 million, which doesn’t include his eventual ownership stake in the team or other incentives (Miami owner Jorge Mas previously claimed he pays Messi between $70 million and $80 million per year when taking all into account). Even so, Messi’s guaranteed compensation is more than all other MLS clubs’ entire wage bill except for LAFC.
In a salary-capped league, the MLSPA information is valuable but just a piece of the puzzle when it comes to how much clubs spend on the first team. The most room for increased discretionary wage spend is on designated players, as clubs can pay up to three players whatever they want and only count towards the salary cap at a fixed fee ($803,125 for a senior DP this year).
Essentially, teams can create more salary cap room via General Allocation Money, but the easiest way to increase overall salary spend is by paying a DP a big salary.
Critically, these totals don’t include outlay on transfer fees. For instance, the Philadelphia Union splashed a club-record fee worth around $4.5 million to sign forward Ezekiel Alladoh, but in this exercise he only accounts for his $540,000 salary. Philadelphia, the reigning Supporters’ Shield holder languishing at the bottom of the table this season, is the lowest-spending team in MLS by salary alone and has just one player making more than $1 million per year.
These figures also don’t cover how much money each club spends on infrastructure, front office and support staff, among other things.
So even if it doesn’t paint the complete picture, it is an important slice of information and an appreciated resource for financial transparency.
Here are the biggest takeaways from MLSPA’s salary release:
Top 10 highest-paid players in MLS
PLAYERGUARANTEED COMPENSATION
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami
$28.3M
Son Heung-min, LAFC
$11.2M
Rodrigo De Paul, Inter Miami
$9.7M
Chucky Lozano, San Diego FC
$9.3M
Miguel Almirón, Atlanta United
$7.9M
Emil Forsberg, Red Bull New York
$6M
Sam Surridge, Nashville SC
$5.9M
Riqui Puig, LA Galaxy
$5.8M
Jonathan Bamba, Chicago Fire
$5.6M
Hany Mukhtar, Nashville SC
$5.4M
With Messi the highest-paid MLS player of all time, his figure towers over the rest of the top 10.
Son Heung-min, whose transfer fee from when he arrived last summer is a league record, is second-highest. His figure is similar to what was released last season.
The third-highest-paid player, Rodrigo De Paul, is on a vastly different number than 2025. Initially arriving on loan from Atlético Madrid as a non-DP (salary less than around $2M), De Paul joined Miami on a permanent transfer and is now at $9.7M. Thomas Müller, who also arrived mid-season on a non-DP deal, saw a significant bump to his Whitecaps deal after his option was picked up.
Two of the top 10 will not play for their clubs this season, albeit amid different circumstances. Riqui Puig is out injured for a second consecutive campaign, while Chucky Lozano has been frozen out by San Diego FC and is training alone.
MLS teams ranked by expenditure
CLUBGUARANTEED COMPENSATION
Inter Miami
$54.6M
LAFC
$32.7M
Atlanta United
$27.9M
LA Galaxy
$26.4M
Vancouver Whitecaps
$24.6M
San Diego FC
$24.4M
FC Cincinnati
$23.5M
Nashville SC
$23M
Columbus Crew
$22.3M
Chicago Fire
$21.7M
Red Bull New York
$21.7M
NYCFC
$21.5M
Charlotte FC
$21.5M
Toronto FC
$21.4M
Houston Dynamo
$20.9M
Austin FC
$19.9M
New England Revolution
$19.4M
Seattle Sounders
$19.1M
St. Louis City
$18.8M
Portland Timbers
$18.5M
San Jose Earthquakes
$15.8M
MInnesota United
$15.6M
Real Salt Lake
$15.3M
D.C. United
$14.6M
FC Dallas
$14.5M
Colorado Rapids
$14.1M
Orlando City
$13.7M
CF Montréal
$13.4M
Sporting KC
$12.4M
Philadelphia Union
$11.7M
Miami, with two of the three most expensive players in the league, is an obvious leader in this category, as it has been every year since Messi arrived.
The Whitecaps, often much lower in these lists, including last year when they were 21st in the first salary release, surge into the top five. The future of the club is in flux with a bid from Grant Gustavson to buy the club and relocate the team to Las Vegas on the table.
As is the nature of this league, the bottom 20 teams are separated by $10 million — the same margin that exists between teams 5-25.
At the bottom of the league resides the Union, who moved on from a number of key players this winter including Kai Wagner, Jakob Glesnes, Tai Baribo and Mikael Uhre. That represented four of their top five highest-paid players. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise the club is struggling mightily in 2026.
Sporting KC, second from the bottom, is currently on pace to be one of the worst teams in league history. Despite having two DPs (Dejan Joveljić and Manu García), it’s the second-lowest-spending team in the league by salary.
Orlando City won’t be down here when the MLSPA releases an update following the summer transfer window, with French star Antoine Griezmann joining the club in July.
New stars and new contracts
PLAYERCOMPENSATION
Josh Sargent, Toronto FC
$5.2M
Thomas Müller, Vancouver Whitecaps
$5.2M
Denis Bouanga, LAFC
$4.9M
Facundo Torres, Austin FC
$4.4M
Timo Werner, San Jose Earthquakes
$4.3M
Miles Robinson, FC Cincinnati
$4M
Cristian Espinoza, Nashville SC
$2.3M
Sergio Reguilon, Inter Miami
$1.8M
Dayne St. Clair, Inter Miami
$809K
James Rodriguez, Minnesota United
$684K*
*All salaries are amortized over a full season. James is set to leave after half a year.
Toronto FC’s long pursuit of Josh Sargent culminated in a hefty investment, securing the American star for a fee north of $20 million and a contract that puts him just outside the top 10 in the league.
Müller, whose guaranteed compensation in his first half season was listed at $1.44M, officially became a DP this year with a new figure of $5.15M.
LAFC star Denis Bouanga was courted by numerous teams this winter — including an audacious bid by Inter Miami before a strong pursuit by Brazil’s Fluminense — but ultimately signed a new deal to remain in Los Angeles. His previous contract was listed at $3.7M. Miles Robinson, who signed a new contract last summer, instantly became the league’s highest-paid center back by no small margin and occupies one of Cincinnati’s DP spots.
Miami reloaded this winter and was surprisingly able to keep Tadeo Allende on a non-DP deal. He was previously on loan and acquired on a permanent transfer. Free agent signing Dayne St. Clair was capped at what the team could offer him.
James Rodriguez is listed at $684,000, but with him due to depart after the World Cup, he will be paid $342,000 for his stint with the Loons.
All-Budget XI
POSITIONPLAYERCOMPENSATION
GK
Brian Schwake, Nashville SC
$167K
CB
Reid Roberts, San Jose Earthquakes
$88K
CB
Lucas Herrington, Colorado Rapids
$235K
CB
Morrison Agyemang, Charlotte FC
$262K
RW
Zavier Gozo, Real Salt Lake
$126K
CM
Beau Leroux, San Jose Earthquakes
$250K
CM
Sebastian Berhalter, Vancouver Whitecaps
$480K
CM
Anibal Godoy, San Diego FC
$358K
LW
Matty Dos Santos, Red Bull New York
$105K
F
Preston Judd, San Jose Earthquakes
$299K
F
Sergi Solans, Real Salt Lake
$88K
For this team, I didn’t want to use only homegrown signings or SuperDraft selections on their first contracts. I used a few, but you could fill the whole team with those players, and a more eclectic view of roster building is more interesting.
That said, the homegrown player to start with is Real Salt Lake wingback Zavier Gozo. What a breakout season it is for the academy graduate, who has played his way into the U.S. men’s national team roster debate and will definitely be in Europe in the near future.
Matty Dos Santos is the representative for Red Bull New York’s talented homegrown trio. Adri Mehmeti and Julian Hall could, obviously, be on this team but I limited myself to two homegrown players on their first contract.
I limited SuperDraft selections to two as well, with Sergi Solans and Reid Roberts the choices; honestly, players from Real Salt Lake and San Jose Earthquakes could have formed the majority of this team.
Preston Judd, meanwhile, is tied for fifth in goals trailing only Hugo Cuypers ($3.5M), Petar Musa ($2.9M), Messi ($28.3M) and Sam Surridge ($5.9M) — a total bargain by any measure.
Lucas Herrington is one of the league’s brightest young talents, signed by the Colorado Rapids before he turned 18. He is now a senior Australia international and will be transferred to Europe before long for big money.
Finally, this is the last year Sebastian Berhalter will be on the list. His contract is up this winter and if he stays in Vancouver (or elsewhere in MLS), he will be due a handsome raise.
