Lionel Messi's MLS Compensation Exceeds 22 Team Payrolls in Latest League Salary Data

Lionel Messi's decision to come to the United States and play in Major League Soccer as arguably the greatest player in the sport's history gave the league quite the international headline and generated even more attention.

And he is getting paid accordingly.

ESPN's Jeff Carlisle cited the latest MLS player salary data that was released Thursday and noted the Inter Miami star's annual guaranteed compensation of $20.4 million is more than the payroll of 22 other teams in the league.

That $20.4 million total is just his salary, and Carlisle pointed out Miami co-owner Jorge Mas previously said he is paid between $50 and $60 million in all with part of his compensation coming from the league's…