Once again, the Major League Soccer Player’s Association released the salaries of all rostered players in the league. And as always, we’re here to tabulate New York City FC’s payroll for you, and give the salaries some context as to how the sit within the rest of the league.
We’ll note that the data dump comes without any warning, and arrived fairly late this year — to go by the recent pattern, these numbers should have dropped several weeks ago in mid-May.
No matter: Here are the Top 25 MLS player salaries, the payrolls of every club in the league, and the complete NYCFC player salaries for 2025.
Oliver Strand
1. Lionel Messi remains the league’s highest-paid player
No surprise here. Lionel Messi’s $20.5 million in guaranteed salary from Inter Miami is unchanged from 2024, as is Lorenzo Insgine’s $15.4 million from Toronto FC.
The Top 5 sees two new arrivals, Atlanta United’s Miguel AlmirĂłn ($7.9 million) and San Diego FC’s Hirving Lozano ($7.6 million). And two departures: Goodbye Chicago Fire’s Xherdan Shaqiri ($8.2 million) and Austin FC’s Sebastián Driussi ($6.7 million).
MLS | Top 25 Player Salaries
| Name | Club | Pos | Base Salary | Guaranteed Salary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Inter Miami | F | $12,000,000 | $20,446,667 |
| 2 | Lorenzo Insigne | Toronto FC | F | $7,500,000 | $15,400,000 |
| 3 | Sergio Busquets | Inter Miami | M | $8,499,996 | $8,774,996 |
| 4 | Miguel AlmirĂłn | Atlanta United | M | $6,056,000 | $7,871,000 |
| 5 | Hirving Lozano | San Diego FC | F | $6,000,000 | $7,633,333 |
| 6 | Federico Bernardeschi | Toronto FC | F | $3,125,000 | $6,295,381 |
| 7 | Emil Forsberg | NY Red Bulls | M | $5,405,000 | $6,035,625 |
| 8 | Jordi Alba | Inter Miami | D | $6,000,000 | $6,000,000 |
| 9 | Riqui Puig MartĂ | LA Galaxy | M | $5,125,000 | $5,779,688 |
| 10 | Jonathan Bamba | Chicago Fire | F | $5,000,000 | $5,581,806 |
| 11 | Hany Mukhtar | Nashville SC | F | $3,900,000 | $5,311,667 |
| 12 | Christian Benteke | DC United | F | $4,500,000 | $4,937,500 |
| 13 | Alex Miranchuk | Atlanta United | M | $3,600,000 | $4,885,441 |
| 14 | Evander | FC Cincinnati | M | $3,200,000 | $4,736,411 |
| 15 | Carles Gil | New England | M | $4,250,000 | $4,702,083 |
| 16 | Luciano Acosta | FC Dallas | M | $3,040,000 | $4,296,413 |
| 17 | Joseph Paintsil | LA Galaxy | F | $3,136,000 | $4,182,000 |
| 18 | Emmanuel Latte Lath | Atlanta United | F | $3,534,546 | $4,030,546 |
| 19 | Luis Muriel | Orlando City SC | F | $2,500,000 | $4,003,333 |
| 20 | KĂ©vin Denkey | FC Cincinnati | F | $3,800,000 | $3,810,000 |
| 21 | Denis Bouanga | LAFC | F | $3,020,000 | $3,709,500 |
| 22 | Ryan Gauld | Vancouver Whitecaps | M | $3,500,000 | $3,675,000 |
| 23 | Olivier Giroud | LAFC | F | $2,800,000 | $3,675,000 |
| 24 | Jonathan RodrĂguez | Portland Timbers | F | $2,775,000 | $3,627,500 |
| 25 | Brandon Vazquez | Austin FC | F | $3,200,000 | $3,551,778 |
Once again, New York City doesn’t have a player in the Top 25. The club’s highest-paid player, Thiago Martins ($2.2 million) is #48 in the league, and actually took a 12% pay cut from his 2024 salary. (More on that below.)
Oliver Strand
2. New York City’s payroll one of the smallest in MLS
Officially, NYCFC’s overall payroll is $14,963,973 as of May 25, 2025. That puts it at #24 in the 30-team league, trailing small-market clubs such as Colorado Rapids ($15,482,331) and San Jose Earthquakes ($17,190,978), never mind ambitious organizations such as Inter Miami ($46,838,535), LAFC ($22,369,590), and New York Red Bulls ($21,542,277).
It’s also well below the MLS average payroll of $19,379,238.
MLS | 2025 Payroll by Club
| Team | Total Payroll | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inter Miami | $46,836,635 |
| 2 | Toronto FC | $34,146,193 |
| 3 | Atlanta United | $27,627,164 |
| 4 | FC Cincinnati | $23,180,135 |
| 5 | LA Galaxy | $22,870,938 |
| 6 | LAFC | $22,369,590 |
| 7 | Chicago Fire | $22,052,757 |
| 8 | Nashville SC | $21,751,786 |
| 9 | NY Red Bulls | $21,542,277 |
| 10 | San Diego FC | $20,033,029 |
| 11 | Portland Timbers | $19,565,541 |
| 12 | Dallas FC | $18,977,292 |
| 13 | St Louis City | $18,106,711 |
| 14 | Seattle Sounders | $18,088,581 |
| 15 | Sporting Kansas City | $17,715,629 |
| 16 | New England | $17,194,922 |
| 17 | San Jose Earthquakes | $17,190,978 |
| 18 | Charlotte FC | $17,133,985 |
| 19 | Orlando City | $16,440,785 |
| 20 | Columbus Crew | $16,355,869 |
| 21 | Vancouver Whitecaps | $15,809,224 |
| 22 | Colorado Rapids | $15,482,331 |
| 23 | Austin FC | $15,331,947 |
| 24 | New York City FC | $14,963,973 |
| 25 | DC United | $14,616,314 |
| 26 | Minnesota United | $13,804,472 |
| 27 | Houston Dynamo | $13,414,691 |
| 28 | Real Salt Lake | $13,413,886 |
| 29 | Philadelphia Union | $13,365,549 |
| 30 | CF Montréal | $11,993,946 |
| Average | $19,379,238 |
* Payrolls calculated by total guaranteed salary
To look at it another way, The $15.4 million check that Toronto cuts for Lorenzo Insigne is more than the $15 million NYCFC sporting director David Lee pays all 32 players on his roster.
But it’s not so far from the $16.4 million payroll for the always-dangerous Columbus Crew, or the $15.8 million payroll for Vancouver Whitecaps, this year’s surprisingly good team. And it’s substantially more than the $13.4 million payroll of Philadelphia Union, who currently have the best record in the league.
Oliver Strand
But NYCFC’s payroll is much lower than the $14,963,973 cited above. The official total includes the salaries of James Sands, Talles Magno, and Jovan Mijatović, three of the team’s highest-paid players and all of whom are out on loan. Deduct their combined salaries and you end up with a payroll of just $11,812,101.
New York City FC | 2025 Player Salaries
| Name | Pos | Base Salary | Guaranteed Comp | 2024 G Comp | Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thiago Martins | D | $1,700,000 | $2,162,000 | $2,462,000 | $-300,000 | -12% |
| 2 | Hannes Wolf | M | $1,400,000 | $1,510,000 | $1,510,000 | $0 | 0% |
| 3 | James Sands* | M | $1,250,000 | $1,318,750 | $1,058,333 | $260,417 | 25% |
| 4 | Talles Magno* | M | $950,000 | $1,065,000 | $1,065,000 | $0 | 0% |
| 5 | Birk Risa | D | $780,000 | $908,250 | $749,750 | $158,500 | 21% |
| 6 | Alonso MartĂnez | F | $700,000 | $800,333 | $328,483 | $471,850 | 144% |
| 7 | Andrés Perea | M | $660,000 | $726,500 | $641,500 | $85,000 | 13% |
| 8 | Julián Fernández | F | $660,000 | $724,300 | $628,300 | $96,000 | 15% |
| 9 | Jovan Mijatović* | F | $650,000 | $687,500 | $687,500 | $0 | 0% |
| 10 | AgustĂn Ojeda | M | $510,000 | $577,833 | $547,833 | $30,000 | 5% |
| 11 | Keaton Parks | M | $400,000 | $530,000 | $1,030,000 | $-500,000 | -49% |
| 12 | Maxi Moralez | M | $480,000 | $500,000 | $500,000 | $0 | 0% |
| 13 | Mounsef Bakrar | F | $372,000 | $468,720 | $456,720 | $12,000 | 3% |
| 14 | Matt Freese | GK | $400,000 | $420,000 | $270,000 | $150,000 | 56% |
| 15 | Mitja IleniÄŤ | D | $300,000 | $391,700 | $331,700 | $60,000 | 18% |
| 16 | Strahinja Tanasijević | D | $270,000 | $338,750 | $308,750 | $30,000 | 10% |
| 17 | Kevin O’Toole | D | $225,000 | $246,667 | $195,833 | $50,834 | 26% |
| 18 | Tayvon Gray | D | $103,992 | $215,492 | $461,500 | $-246,008 | -53% |
| 19 | Justin Haak | M | $200,000 | $215,004 | $165,000 | $50,004 | 30% |
| 20 | Maximo Carrizo | M | $104,000 | $137,523 | $123,239 | $14,284 | 12% |
| 21 | Jonny Shore | M | $104,000 | $116,500 | $83,901 | $32,599 | 39% |
| 22 | Drew Baiera | D | $104,000 | $109,936 | $77,337 | $32,599 | 42% |
| 23 | Greg Ranjitsingh†| GK | $104,000 | $104,000 | $172,688 | $-68,688 | -40% |
| 24 | Tomás Romero | GK | $104,000 | $104,000 | $71,401 | $32,599 | 46% |
| 25 | Jacob Arroyave | M | $80,622 | $93,620 | — | — | — |
| 26 | Zidane Yañez | F | $80,622 | $84,789 | $75,568 | $9,221 | 12% |
| 26 | Nico Cavallo | D | $80,622 | $82,470 | — | — | — |
| 27 | Max Murray | D | $80,622 | $82,470 | — | — | — |
| 25 | Prince Amponsah | D | $80,622 | $80,622 | — | — | — |
| 30 | Malachi Jones | F | $80,622 | $80,622 | $71,401 | $9,221 | 13% |
| 32 | Alex Rando | GK | $80,622 | $80,622 | $71,401 | $9,221 | 13% |
| Total | $11,812,101 |
That number is just a baseline. The team added Aiden O’Neill in April, and because his salary isn’t included in the MLSPA guide, the actual team payroll right now should be somewhere north of $12 million.
Andrew Leigh
3. New York City’s payroll dropped by 19%
NYCFC’s $11,821,101 payroll in 2025 is 19.1% smaller than the $14,614,159 payroll in 2024. In fact, it’s the fourth-smallest payroll in club history.
New York City FC | Payroll by Year
| Year | Guaranteed Comp | MLS # | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $11,821,101 | 24 | $-2,793,058 | -19.1% |
| 2024 | $14,614,159 | 18 | $3,194,263 | 28.0% |
| 2023 | $11,419,896 | 14 | $-2,613,444 | -18.6% |
| 2022 | $14,033,340 | 7 | $1,796,130 | 14.7% |
| 2021 | $12,237,210 | 7 | $2,916,313 | 31.3% |
| 2020 | $9,320,897 | 10 | $-428,775 | -4.4% |
| 2019 | $9,749,672 | 14 | $-4,124,385 | -29.7% |
| 2018 | $13,874,057 | 4 | $-3,625,068 | -20.7% |
| 2017 | $17,499,125 | 2 | $-3,291,052 | -15.8% |
| 2016 | $20,790,177 | 1 | $3,867,756 | 22.9% |
| 2015 | $16,922,421 | 3 | — | — |
4. Big raises for Alonso MartĂnez, Matt Freese
The largest pay raise of the year belongs to Alonso MartĂnez, who went from $328,483 in guaranteed compensation in 2024 to $800,333 this year. That works out to a well-deserved jump of 144%. Goalkeeper Matt Freese‘s salary rose from $270,000 to $420,000, which works out to a raise of 56%.
In addition, backup goalkeeper Tomás Romero’s pay rose 46%, to $104,000, and Justin Haak’s pay rose 30%, to $215,004.
5. Pay cuts for Tayvon Gray, Keaton Parks
The salaries for both Tayvon Gray and Keaton Parks fell substantially this year. Gray now makes $215,492, a 53% drop from the $461,500 he made last year, while Parks now makes $530,000, a 49% drop from the $1 million he made in 2024.
6. Justin Haak, Jonny Shore among the biggest bargains in MLS
Haak is one of just two players to start in all 18 games NYCFC played so far this season. (The other is Maxi Moralez.) But his $215,004 salary is #19 on the team, behind players with far less playing time such as AndrĂ©s Perea, AgustĂn Ojeda, and Strahinja Tanasijević. Haak might have received a substantial bump in salary as noted above, but he’s easily the lowest-paid of the everyday players.
That is, with the exception of Jonny Shore, who now has 1090 minutes in 18 appearances, and whose guaranteed compensation is just $116,500. It makes sense that a player like Shore would make so little: He started the year as a surprise starter, which is why his salary is closer to the Homegrowns playing with NYCFC II.
7. Birk Risa, Andrés Perea, Julián Fernández need to step up
Three of NYCFC’s highest-paid players are also three of the most inconsistent: We’re looking at you Birk Risa, AndrĂ©s Perea, and Julián Fernández.
If you divide guaranteed comp by a team’s points per game you get some interesting outcomes. Philly is on top (lowest number) and NYCFC is 5th. Can’t paste the table here