Does Lionel Messi actually fall behind Son Heung-min in MLS package gross sales? Race heats up as newest stats emerge, however Thomas Muller fails to crack high 10

Because the 2025 Main League Soccer season enters its closing stretch, a captivating storyline has taken maintain throughout the soccer world. Lionel Messi, as soon as the undisputed face of American soccer since becoming a member of Inter Miami, is now feeling the stress — each from the explosive rise of Son Heung-Min at LAFC and the sudden arrival of Thomas Muller on the Vancouver Whitecaps.

However whereas Muller’s late-season surge has shaken the league statistically, it’s the battle for industrial supremacy — the MLS best-selling jersey checklist — that’s capturing international consideration. The query lingering amongst followers is easy: has Son actually dethroned Messi on the high of the American market?

Since Messi’s arrival in 2023, MLS has seen record-breaking crowds, income, and international visibility. But the steadiness of energy is shifting. Muller’s arrival in Vancouver revitalized the Whitecaps’ assault, whereas Son’s transfer from Tottenham to Los Angeles in July 2025 sparked a cultural wave that stretched far past the pitch.

Son’s unveiling at BMO Stadium was a media spectacle, with hundreds of followers waving black-and-gold flags and chanting in Korean. Inside days, shops throughout Los Angeles bought out of his No. 7 shirt. LAFC’s basic supervisor, John Thorrington, advised talkSPORT: “That is now the second week the place we’re not simply speaking in regards to the highest-selling soccer jersey within the MLS. It’s the highest-selling jersey of any sport on the earth proper now.”

MLS stars Son Heung-min and Lionel Messi.

For a short second, it appeared that Son had overtaken Messi not simply as a participant to look at, however as probably the most marketable athlete in American sports activities.

The outcomes are in

Nonetheless, in keeping with MLSStore.com figures launched to SportsLogos.web, Messi’s industrial grip stays unbroken. The Inter Miami icon tops the 2025 MLS Finest-Promoting Jersey checklist, forward of Son Heung-Min in second place. It marks the fifth consecutive season that Messi has led the standings, a testomony to his enduring international enchantment at the same time as challengers rise round him.

Regardless of the feverish pleasure surrounding his arrival, Thomas Muller doesn’t seem within the high 10, suggesting his affect stays totally on the sector reasonably than in merchandise gross sales.