For the second and final time in 2025, the Major League Soccer Players Association released the salaries of all rostered players in the league.
That means we get a new chance to tabulate New York City FC's payroll and to see which teams and players rank as the salary and payroll leaders around MLS. Spoiler: Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami CF teammates dominate the spending and salary charts, though there's a new second-highest paid player in the league behind Messi.
We covered the year's first batch of MLS player salary data shared in late June here, and now read on for 5 Takeaways from this latest salary
1. The size of that Nico splash
With $3.65 million in guaranteed compensation, Nico Fernández Mercau is now the highest-paid New York City FC player. He's also NYCFC's highest earner since David Villa made $5.61 million in guaranteed compensation in 2018, his final season with the club. Nico is the first New York City player up over $3 million in annual compensation since Maxi Moralez earned $3.28 million during the 2021 season.
New York City FC | 2025 Player Salaries
| Name | Pos | Base Salary | Guaranteed Comp | 2024 G Comp | Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Fernández Mercau | M | $3,650,000 | $3,650,000 | — | — | — |
| 2 | Thiago Martins | D | $1,700,000 | $2,162,000 | $2,462,000 | $-300,000 | -12% |
| 3 | Hannes Wolf | M | $1,400,000 | $1,510,000 | $1,510,000 | $0 | 0% |
| 4 | James Sands* | M | $1,250,000 | $1,318,750 | $1,058,333 | $260,417 | 25% |
| 5 | Talles Magno* | M | $950,000 | $1,065,000 | $1,065,000 | $0 | 0% |
| 6 | Raul Gustavo | D | $720,000 | $812,960 | — | — | — |
| 7 | Alonso Martínez | F | $700,000 | $800,333 | $328,483 | $471,850 | 144% |
| 8 | Andrés Perea | M | $660,000 | $726,500 | $641,500 | $85,000 | 13% |
| 9 | Julián Fernández | F | $660,000 | $724,300 | $628,300 | $96,000 | 15% |
| 10 | Jovan Mijatović* | F | $650,000 | $687,500 | $687,500 | $0 | 0% |
| 11 | Agustín Ojeda | M | $510,000 | $577,833 | $547,833 | $30,000 | 5% |
| 12 | Aiden O'Neill | M | $540,000 | $570,938 | — | — | — |
| 13 | Keaton Parks | M | $400,000 | $530,000 | $1,030,000 | $-500,000 | -49% |
| 14 | Maxi Moralez | M | $480,000 | $500,000 | $500,000 | $0 | 0% |
| 15 | Matt Freese | GK | $400,000 | $491,677 | $270,000 | $221,677 | 82% |
| 16 | Mitja Ilenič | D | $300,000 | $391,700 | $331,700 | $60,000 | 18% |
| 17 | Strahinja Tanasijević | D | $270,000 | $338,750 | $308,750 | $30,000 | 10% |
| 18 | Justin Haak | M | $200,000 | $265,833 | $165,000 | $100,833 | 61% |
| 19 | Kevin O'Toole | D | $225,000 | $246,667 | $195,833 | $50,834 | 26% |
| 20 | Tayvon Gray | D | $103,992 | $215,492 | $461,500 | $-246,008 | -53% |
| 21 | Maximo Carrizo | M | $104,000 | $137,523 | $123,239 | $14,284 | 12% |
| 22 | Jonny Shore | M | $104,000 | $116,500 | $83,901 | $32,599 | 39% |
| 23 | Drew Baiera | D | $104,000 | $109,936 | $77,337 | $32,599 | 42% |
| 24 | Greg Ranjitsingh† | GK | $104,000 | $104,000 | $172,688 | $-68,688 | -40% |
| 25 | Tomás Romero | GK | $104,000 | $104,000 | $71,401 | $32,599 | 46% |
| 26 | Seymour Reid | F | $80,622 | $95,437 | — | — | — |
| 27 | Jacob Arroyave | M | $80,622 | $93,620 | — | — | — |
| 28 | Zidane Yañez | F | $80,622 | $84,789 | $75,568 | $9,221 | 12% |
| 29 | Nico Cavallo | D | $80,622 | $82,470 | — | — | — |
| 30 | Max Murray | D | $80,622 | $82,470 | — | — | — |
| 31 | Prince Amponsah | D | $80,622 | $80,622 | — | — | — |
| 32 | Malachi Jones | F | $80,622 | $80,622 | $71,401 | $9,221 | 13% |
| 33 | Alex Rando | GK | $80,622 | $80,622 | $71,401 | $9,221 | 13% |
| Total | $13,623,968* | $15,285,794* | - | - | - |
* Not including the salaries of loaned-out players
The Fernández Mercau signing bumped NYCFC's payroll up from 24th in June to 14th in October, middle of the pack overall but now with one of the league's highest-paid players – Fernández Mercau also comes in at No 21 on the league-wide compensation leaderboard.
