Lionel Messi swapped Paris for Miami in July and has dramatically changed the fortunes of the Florida based club as they look to win more silverware in Wednesday’s US Open Cup final.

Major League Soccer franchise Inter Miami delivered a major coup when Lionel Messi confirmed earlier in the summer that he planned to move to Florida for the next challenge in his glittering career. For that privilege, there would need to be some serious financial muscle behind the deal, and there certainly was.

David Beckham and Inter Miami managed to convince the world champion to join their ranks and the appeal of Florida where the player already had a house was an attractive proposition for the Argentine.

However, Inter Miami’s salary proposal was well short of the package being offered by the Saudi Pro League who also attempted to lure the striker with a reported $440 million salary. The Saudi lure has worked on many others.

The $54 million on the table from Inter Miami paled in comparison but the Argentine was also set to receive earnings from television rights as part of the MLS/Apple joint venture. The striker who was already sponsored by Adidas would also get a percentage of all replica shirts sold with the league having an exclusive deal with the German sports brand.

A fan wears a Lionel Messi bucket hat ALEX MENENDEZAFP

Messi tops Miami salaries

Before the arrival of the Barcelona legend, Venezuelan striker Josef Martínez was the club’s highest-paid player with the former Atlanta United striker earning $4 million per season with the Herons. At over 13 times the amount, Messi’s $54 million dwarfed that and is $46 million more than the highest paid in the league, which is the Swiss star, formerly of Liverpool, Xherdan Shaqiri with the Chicago Fire man. There he pockets $8.2 million per campaign.

How much do Busquets and Jordi Alba earn at Inter Miami?

Of course, a supporting cast was always part of the plan in Miami and the Barcelona trio was reformed as Sergio Busquets and then Jordi Alba signed up. For their part, they will be paid $10 million and $1.6 million respectively.

Messi #10 of Inter MiamCARMEN MANDATOAFP

Inter Miami player salaries

1. Lionel Messi $54 million

2. Sergio Busquets $10 million

3. Josef Martinez $4 million

4. Jordi Alba $1.6 million

5. DeAndre Yedlin $825,000

6. Jean Mota $750,000

7. Gregory $725,000

8. Corentin Jean $720,000

9. Sergii Kryvtsov $555,500

10. Leonardo Campana $550,000

11. Nick Marsman $474,996

12. Nicolas Stefanelli $400,000

13. Kamal Miller $375,000

14. Robert Taylor $276,000

15. Victor Ulloa $250,000

16. Franco Negri $225,000

17. Christopher McVey $219,996

18. Dixon Creek $150,000

Messi delivers

Inter Miami made a huge splash in the summer transfer market by signing Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, who have had an incredible impact since joining David Beckham’s Herons. The former Barcelona trio have helped the team win the 2023 Leagues Cup, reach the final of the US Open Cup and climb off the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference and overall standings in just over two months at their new club.