The narrative that MLS’s financial disparity is a one-man show starring Lionel Messi is a convenient lie, because LAFC’s decision to pay Son Heung-min a salary that dwarfs nearly every other player in the league proves that the league’s supposed parity is being dismantled by two monsters, not one. Messi’s $28.3 million annual compensation is the headline, a grotesque outlier that the league’s apologists dismiss as a unique, once-in-a-generation exception. But Son’s wage—still more than double the next highest earner not named Messi—creates a second supernova in the spending galaxy. The “Son Heung-min premium” isn’t just about marketing in a Korean-heavy market; it’s about LAFC flexing financial muscle that most of the league cannot match. While Miami buys a guaranteed Golden Boot winner in his prime, LAFC buys a Champions League-tested, Premier League-proven attacker who, at 32, still runs defenses ragged. Both moves scream that the designated player rule has become a Ferrari lane on a go-kart track.
The evidence is on the field and in the salary cap spreadsheets. Last time I watched LAFC at BMO Stadium,