Officially published
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Lionel Messi earns more at his club Inter Miami than all professionals from 22 of the other 28 teams in Major League Soccer combined. The 37-year-old will receive a guaranteed income of 20,446,667 US dollars (around 18.9 million euros) from the winner of the MLS main round this season. The numbers come from one overview published by the players’ union in which sponsorship payments are not taken into account.
After leaving Borussia Dortmund, Marco Reus will receive a guaranteed salary of $1,216,667 at Los Angeles Galaxy. He earns less than Marcel Hartel after his move from FC St. Pauli to St. Louis CITY SC, his teammate Eduard Löwen or Rafael Czichos (Chicago Fire). Hartel collects guaranteed income of $2,183,113.
The reason for this is that Reus was not brought in as one of three “designated players” allowed per team who are allowed to be above the salary limit. These places were occupied by Riqui Puig, Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec at Galaxy. Nevertheless, the ex-BVB professional can look forward to much higher income than stated in the MLS report, as he has signed a “Targeted Allocation Money” deal that guarantees him various payments outside of the current cap. Hartel, on the other hand, does not fall under this rule as a designated player at St. Louis and receives the highest salary on his team, just ahead of Reus’ former teammate Roman Bürki ($1,525,000).
At $41.7 million, Miami’s roster is significantly more expensive to maintain than any other in the league. This is followed by Toronto with 31.8 million and the two teams from Los Angeles. The Galaxy squad costs $22.1 million, while LAFC pays $22 million in salaries. Otherwise, the professionals only earn more in total than Messi at Miami in Nashville ($21.9 million), the club of the highest-paid German Hany Mukhtar, Cincinnati (21 million) and Houston (20.5 million).
