The American Football League is striving to get as close as possible to the top leagues in the world by recruiting a large number of football stars. This season, they succeeded in signing many of them, led by the Argentine star Lionel Messi.
Signing these stars requires a lot of money to cover their high salaries, which motivates them to leave popular European leagues and join a less popular football league in a country where basketball and baseball are more prominent.
Messi's addition has definitely increased the popularity of football. Celebrities and Hollywood stars are now eager to watch him play, especially considering he has won seven Ballon d'Or titles as the best player in the world.
Here are the top 10 highest-paid players in the American league:
Messi holds the record for winning the Ballon d’Or 7 times
Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) - $55 million:
Although this enormous salary means that the Barcelona legend earns approximately $163,690 per day, it is only his base salary. Messi also receives a percentage of revenues and profits from shirt sales, as well as a share of ticket sales and various other things.
Messi also earns $65 million from sponsorship deals, with Pepsi being one of the prominent global companies.
The Argentine superstar has surpassed expectations, scoring 14 goals in 9 matches in all competitions and winning two championships shortly after joining the team.
Sergio Busquets (Inter Miami) - $10 million.
Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire) - $8.153 million.
Lorenzo Insigne (Toronto FC) - $7.5 million.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez (Los Angeles Galaxy) - $7.443 million.
Federico Bernardeschi (Toronto FC) - $6.295 million.
Sebastián Driussi (Austin FC) - $6.022 million.
Héctor Herrera (Houston Dynamo) - $5.246 million.
Douglas Costa (Los Angeles Galaxy) - $4.508 million.
Christian Benítez (D.C. United) - $4.250 million.