David Beckham really knows how to attract new deals and raise the popularity of his club. I mean, it’s only a decade since he got his club, and Inter Miami is already in the first league, competing for titles and everything.
The best deal he’s done by now is surely the one that brought his club onto the big scene, singing Lionel Messi.
And of course, it made the club popular worldwide, but I want to write about something else. It’s about the wages players are getting in this club. Messi didn’t just bring fame to the club but also caused the range of salaries to become, well, hard to imagine in many other clubs, especially European.
Let’s see what this is all about.
How Much Does Messi Earn in Miami?
As was expected, Messi became the highest-paid player in the MLS.
The base salary is $12 million per year, while the minimum guaranteed compensation is over $20 million.
However various sponsorship deals are making a total sum of over $50 million annually. Most of that money comes from his deal with Adidas and share rights for revenue from Apple TV, which is selling a season pass.
Before the arrival of Messi, the record-breaker was Lorenzo Insigne, with a salary of $14 million.
Real soccer fans will find some real legends in the list of highest-paid players in the history of the league, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic ($7.2m), Kaka ($6.66m), Steven Gerrard ($6.20m), and more.
What About His Teammates?
First of all, I have to state that Messi’s salary is larger than all others combined.
The next on the list is Luis Suarez, with around $2 million, followed by two more great players, Sergio Busquets( $1,77m), and Jordi Alba ($1.25).
The fun fact is that we could watch all of these 4 in Barcelona only a few years ago.
One more player has a wage of over a million, Leandro González Pírez ($1.09), and that’s it. Few more have good salaries with over $500k, and all those players are on the first squad.
The reserves and players who are not always in the main squad receive a lot less on their accounts.
And the best way to check out the impressive disparity is to check out this table.
| Player | Salary |
|---|---|
| Jordi Alba (D) | $1,250,000 |
| Tomás Avilés (D) | $387,500 |
| Sergio Busquets (M) | $1,775,000 |
| Drake Callender (GK) | $355,917 |
| Leonardo Campana (F) | $672,329 |
| Facundo Farías (M) | $525,000 |
| Diego Gómez (M) | $504,167 |
| Sergii Kryvtsov (D) | $614,500 |
| Lionel Messi (F) | $20,446,667 |
| Franco Negri (D) | $317,500 |
| Luis Suarez (F) | Under Contract – estimated to be $1.7 for base salary and a chance to reach $10 million with bonuses |
| Robert Taylor (F) | $302,900 |
| Marcelo Weigandt (D) | Under Contract – not publicly disclosed |
| Benjamin Cremaschi (M) | $69,360 |
| CJ dos Santos (GK) | $72,660 |
| Harvey Neville (D) | Under Contract |
| Noah Allen (D) | $67,360 |
| Shanyder Borgelin (F) | $69,860 |
| Cole Jensen (GK) | $67,360 |
| Santiago Morales (M) | $75,693 |
| David Ruiz (M) | $67,350 |
| Ryan Sailor (D) | $85,444 |
according to ProSoccerWire
And My Question is, How Does it Work?
Every football player would love playing on the same field as one of the best all of time, right? I mean there is no need to even debate this.
But still, it’s about the basic psychology.
I think that Gerardo Martino, the head coach of Inter Miami, may have certain challenges in motivating other players, especially those on the bottom of the salary scale,
It’s quite simple to get this, actually. I mean, all eyes are on the “main star” of the team, and few other faces, while one “average” face, let’s say David Ruiz, won’t get so much attention even after scoring or assisting. And then, why would he bother so much, right? Why would he share the responsibility for a loss along with these “superstars”?
But there are positive things. First of all, the motivation. These players are spending a lot of time together during training sessions.
For instance, this is a real miracle for one Robert Taylor, who is spending his third year in Miami and never played in the Top 5 leagues before. A forward who never scored more than 10 goals in professional leagues now shares the locker room with Messi and Suarez! ( That’s a story to share with grandkids, right?).
Shanyder is an even better example since Taylor is 29, so he reached his “prime”, but Shanyder is only 22, playing his 3rd season as a senior. And he wasn’t quite impressive during that time, with no goals, and only one assist in 15 games played during this period. And this player is now a replacement for Messi or Suarez. His salary indeed is incredibly low when we compare it to Messi’s, but his achievements at the moment won’t lead the “chief” to consider a raise.
But, again, this guy still trains with all those “legends”. So, they might transfer some of their “magic” to this guy. Who knows, we might see young Borgelin in the Top 5 clubs in Europe in a few years. I just really hope that sharing a locker room with Messi won’t be the highlight of his career once he retires.
So, is there a reason for concern and dissatisfaction among all these less-payed players?
I really don’t think so.
First of all, what do they bring to the club?
The whole world knows about Inter Miami because of these transfers. Suarez, Alba, and Busquets would promote the club enough to get on a map, but Messi was really a cherry on top.
As a financial deal, Beckham once again proved that he is a genius.
The sales of tickets are now bringing over $1.5 billion in profit annually, while it was at around $500 million a year before.
The league also made a deal with Apple, and everyone thinks Messi is one of the reasons why this company decided for this move.
There is also revenue from marketing and all those smaller deals that can generate a decent income. I mean, they got an 800% surge in Instagram followers.
When we look at all these instances, it appears that the deal really is highly profitable for the club. Therefore, the salary with bonuses is more than justified.
