Son Heung-min's Salary: $11.15 Million in Guaranteed Compensation, 2nd in MLS… Messi Earns 2.5 Times as Much
In the MLS Players Association's spring 2026 salary guide, Son Heung-min's base salary is $10.36 million and his guaranteed compensation is $11.15 million, 2nd in the league. The gap to No. 1 Messi is $17.18 million.
Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.
Summary in Three Lines
- Son Heung-min's guaranteed compensation for the 2026 season is $11,152,852, 2nd in the league in the MLS Players Association salary guide.
- His base salary is $10,368,750, about $780,000 less than his guaranteed compensation.
- His contract with LAFC runs through 2027, and if all extension options are exercised, it continues through June 2029.
$17.18 million. That is the gap in guaranteed compensation between No. 2 Son Heung-min and No. 1 Lionel Messi (39) in the spring 2026 MLS salary guide. Son is ahead of every player ranked 3rd or below. But the combined pay of the three players ranked 2nd through 4th is $30.17 million. That is only $1.84 million more than the $28.33 million Messi receives by himself.
Search for "Son Heung-min salary" and you will find both $10.36 million and $11.15 million. Neither figure is wrong. The MLS Players Association (MLSPA) publishes two measures together: base salary and guaranteed compensation. Using the salary guide for contracts as of April 16, 2026, this article sets out the difference between the two figures, his position in the league, his contract length and his transfer fee.
Son Heung-min's $11.15 Million Salary: The Difference Between Base Salary and Guaranteed Compensation
MLSPA Salary Guide shows that Son Heung-min's annual base salary for the 2026 season is $10,368,750 and his average annual guaranteed compensation is $11,152,852. Guaranteed compensation is the base salary plus items such as signing bonuses and guaranteed bonuses, converted to an annual amount over the length of the contract. Performance bonuses whose achievement is uncertain are not included. The difference between the two figures is $784,102.
The Yonhap News report carried by Financial News converted the guaranteed compensation to about 16.6 billion won at the exchange rate on May 13, 2026. The won amount changes with the exchange rate. It is also not the same figure as after-tax take-home pay or total income including endorsements.
Son Heung-min's 2026 Season Salary Figures (Contracts as of April 16, 2026)
| Category | Amount (USD) | Weekly equivalent (USD, 52 weeks) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | 10,368,750 | About 199,000 | Published by MLSPA |
| Guaranteed compensation | 11,152,852 | About 214,000 | About 16.6 billion won (as of the May 13, 2026 report) |
| Difference | 784,102 | About 15,000 | Guaranteed compensation − base salary |
2nd in MLS Pay Rankings, $17.18 Million Gap With Messi
Top 5 MLS Players by Average Annual Guaranteed Compensation, Spring 2026 (Contracts as of April 16, 2026)
| Rank | Player | Club (per salary guide) | Guaranteed compensation (USD) | Base salary (USD) | Increase over base salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Inter Miami | 28,333,333 | 25,000,000 | 13.3% |
| 2 | Son Heung-min | LAFC | 11,152,852 | 10,368,750 | 7.6% |
| 3 | Rodrigo De Paul | Inter Miami | 9,688,320 | 7,569,000 | 28.0% |
| 4 | Hirving Lozano | San Diego FC | 9,333,333 | 6,000,000 | 55.6% |
| 5 | Miguel Almirón | Atlanta United | 7,871,000 | 6,056,000 | 30.0% |
Messi's guaranteed compensation is about 2.5 times Son's (28,333,333÷11,152,852). Rodrigo De Paul (32) ranks 3rd at $9,688,320, a gap of $1.46 million from Son. The last column of the table shows how many percent higher guaranteed compensation is than base salary, calculated as (guaranteed compensation − base salary)÷base salary. Son's 7.6% is the lowest of the five. That means his contract has a correspondingly large share of base salary.
Sports Illustrated ordered its table by base salary, placing Almirón 4th and Lozano 5th. Ranked by guaranteed compensation, Lozano comes first. Salary itself is also only part of total income. Forbes estimated that Messi earned $140 million over the previous 12 months, roughly half on the field and half off it.
Son Heung-min Is 34, 15 Years From Hamburg to LAFC
According to LAFC's profile, Son Heung-min was born on July 8, 1992, and is 34 years old as of October 5, 2026. After debuting in the Hamburger SV first team in 2010, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 and Tottenham Hotspur in 2015 before joining LAFC. He shared the 2021-22 Premier League Golden Boot, won the 2020 FIFA Puskás Award and the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League, and then received the 2025 MLS Goal of the Year.
The record Tottenham confirmed when announcing the transfer is 454 official appearances and 173 goals. At the time, that ranked 5th in club history for goals. The club's player profile page lists 473 appearances, but because the scope of that count is unclear, we adopted 454, which also matches Premier League reports.
Son Heung-min's Contract Runs Through 2027, Through June 2029 With Options
LAFC's official announcement shows that Son Heung-min joined the team on August 6, 2025. The base contract runs through 2027. It carries options to extend further, through 2028 and then through June 2029. Whether the options are exercised and the salary terms going forward need separate confirmation. However long the remaining period may look, only the period through 2027 is confirmed.
One should avoid multiplying the salary by the number of contract years to produce a "total contract value." Pay can differ from season to season, and the exercise of options also requires separate confirmation. His weekly wage during his Tottenham years is estimated at different amounts by different salary information sites. Because it could not be confirmed through an official club announcement or enough independent reports, this article does not state an amount.
Son Heung-min's Transfer Fee of Up to $26.5 Million Is Separate From His Salary
MLSsoccer.com reported the transfer fee as up to $26.5 million, and Yonhap News carried the same figure. ESPN, however, reported about $26 million on the same day. The two reports differ by $500,000, and this is a reported figure, not an amount officially disclosed by the clubs. The deal still stands as the highest transfer fee in MLS history at the time of the transfer.
The transfer fee is a transaction amount between LAFC and Tottenham. That means it is not Son Heung-min's personal income. The highest reported figure is about 2.4 times his annual guaranteed compensation. De Paul also moved permanently from Atlético Madrid to Inter Miami in December 2025, with a transfer fee of about 15 million euros reported. That too is a transaction amount between clubs, not the player's personal income.
This salary guide is the spring edition that the MLSPA released on May 12, 2026, and it does not exactly reflect contract status as of October. The MLSPA publishes twice a year. When a new salary guide comes out, the rankings and amounts may change. The base contract runs through 2027, and whether it will be extended is undecided.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How much is Son Heung-min's salary?
In the MLSPA spring 2026 salary guide (contracts as of April 16, 2026), his base salary is $10,368,750 and his average annual guaranteed compensation is $11,152,852. The guaranteed compensation was about 16.6 billion won at the exchange rate at the time of the May 13, 2026 report.
Q. How old is Son Heung-min?
According to LAFC's profile, he was born on July 8, 1992, and is 34 years old as of October 5, 2026.
Q. Until when does Son Heung-min's contract run?
His base contract with LAFC runs through 2027. There are options to extend it through 2028 and through June 2029, and whether the options are exercised and the salary terms going forward need separate confirmation.
Q. Is Son Heung-min's transfer fee included in his salary?
No. The transfer fee, reported as up to $26.5 million, is a transaction amount between LAFC and Tottenham, so it is different from the player's personal income.
Related Official Sites
- MLS Players Association official salary guide — Raw data on each player's base salary and guaranteed compensation, and definitions of terms
- LAFC official website — Official club announcements and match schedule
- MLS official website — League standings, statistics and transfer news
- Tottenham's official Son Heung-min Legends record — Official records from his Tottenham years
Cover image · Archive photo · Not an on-site photo of a current match in this article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (dom fellowes from UK), CC BY 2.0
Related Reading
· "A Fantastic First Year Joining MLS"… Son Heung-min's Salary of $11.15 Million, 2nd in MLS
· Son Heung-min's Salary Ranking: 2nd in MLS at $11.15 Million… $17.18 Million Gap With Messi
Weight Editor · View profile and more articles