Stefan Borson: This is how much Son Heung-min is paid after quitting Tottenham
Son Heung-min left Tottenham in the summer transfer window after spending a decade in north London.
Son received interest from Saudi clubs, but he decided against a move to the Middle East.
Tottenham sold Son to Los Angeles FC for around £20million, with the deal surpassing the record-breaking £17m fee fellow MLS side Atlanta United paid to sign Emmanuel Latte Lath from Middlesbrough in February.
Son’s wages at LAFC have now been revealed after the MLS Players Association has released its 2025 Salary Guide, with the numbers broken down into each players’ base salary and guaranteed compensation.
The former Tottenham captain earns a base salary of £7.9m a year and a guaranteed compensation of £8.5m before performance-related bonuses are included.
Son Heung-min is second-highest paid MLS star behind Lionel Messi
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Son is likely to be earning a similar base salary to what he was on at Tottenham.
The South Korea international is the second-highest paid player in the MLS behind Lionel Messi, who rakes in a £9.1m base salary per year and a guaranteed compensation of £15.6m at Inter Miami.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Son’s wages, Borson said: “I would think in terms of base salary, that’s probably broadly what he was on at Spurs.
“But of course, this is a new contract. I don’t know how many years he’s got to run at LA, but it’s a very solid contract, isn’t it? I think generally, if you look at those MLS salaries, the interesting thing is actually that a lot of players are just not paid very much.
“So, you’ve got the top-tier players. You’ve got Messi, Son and some of the other Inter Miami players, but generally, the wages are not that great, and that’s even for some of the bigger players.
“I remember looking at Suarez. I don’t know what he’s in there this year, but I looked last year. I think he was about $1m (£770,000), which obviously is far less than he would get anywhere else, and far less than he would have got historically anyway.”
Son has been in fine form since joining LAFC, having registered 10 goals and four assists in 10 games.
Son is earning ‘Premier League money’ after Tottenham exit
Borson revealed MLS clubs pay the likes of Messi and Son significant wages, while the majority of players are paid similar salaries to what they would earn in the Championship.
“It’s just the way that league works,” said Borson.
“You’ve got your superstars, which they pay big for, like Son. It’s ballpark Premier League money. I mean, Messi’s got a unique deal, so it’s slightly misleading to just look at the deal that he’s got there.
“Then you’ve got a whole load of players that are paid probably much closer to like Championship-type wages. But Son’s money is very good because he’s the second-highest paid player in the league.”
Richarlison could soon follow Son in moving to the MLS after Orlando City are believed to have made an approach to sign the Tottenham forward in recent weeks.
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