Lionel Messi’s Obscene Contract

Acrobat7

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someone’s telling whopping lies in here.

If Messi really makes Barcelona that much money then why are they trying to release half the squad on a free to find the money for his new contract?

Also, Barcelona charge €10m a friendly for 45 minutes of Messi? Get the feck out, that’s probably happened once in the Middle East, no ones paying that.

I for one hope he stays and runs Barcelona into the ground financially.
Because there is a salary cap in Spain that Barca misses even without having Messi signed.
 

Skills

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someone’s telling whopping lies in here.

If Messi really makes Barcelona that much money then why are they trying to release half the squad on a free to find the money for his new contract?

Also, Barcelona charge €10m a friendly for 45 minutes of Messi? Get the feck out, that’s probably happened once in the Middle East, no ones paying that.

I for one hope he stays and runs Barcelona into the ground financially.
Because there's a La Liga imposed salary cap?
 

RUCK4444

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Can you give any examples of these instances of everything that's good about the game from a loyalty and fans perspective?
We’ve had legends come through the ranks here, world class players like Scholes, Giggs who never kicked up a fuss whatsoever.

There’s plenty of players who have been loyal to their club over the years, but this again is different, can you not see how?

He knows the power he exerts over the club president, the hierarchy, the fans. He’s using it to push for a ridiculous contract, at a time when the club is on its knees. It’s pretty unique in itself due to the name of the player, they will cripple themselves to keep him and it’s his willingness to let them that is shocking, on any level, let alone when your the supposed heart and soul of the club.
 

Iker Quesadillas

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This is a plot of the revenues of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United from the 2003-2004 season to the 2018-2019 season.

The club has been growing its revenues at a similar rate as comparable clubs and at a steady pace since before Messi broke into the team. This suggests that Messi is not, in fact, unique to Barcelona on financial terms.

You can't even really tell when Messi became a superstar just by looking at this.
 
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This suggests that Messi is not, in fact, unique to Barcelona on financial terms.

You can't even really tell when Messi became a superstar just by looking at this.
It’s clearly a load of balls else United would have seen a significant drop after Ronaldo left. As always in football, what in fact happens is another player becomes the face of the club and the money keeps coming in.
Very little is directly related to one player.
 

Rado_N

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The idea that he makes them more money than he’s cost them on that batshit contract is so utterly laughable that I can’t believe anyone is entertaining it for even a moment.
 

Ecstatic

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He's using it to push for a ridiculous contract, at a time when the club is on its knees. It’s pretty unique in itself due to the name of the player, they will cripple themselves to keep him and it’s his willingness to let them that is shocking, on any level, let alone when your the supposed heart and soul of the club.
Without Messi, instead of being on its knees, the club would be buried alive.

A club like Barcelona is more than a Spanish club, a massive institution that can't go bankrupt so everything is fine all things considered. They can always find a political way to refinance any debt over 50 years if needed.

This is beautiful story: a club ready to make massive sacrifices to reward and retain what you would call the heart and soul of the club.
 

Isotope

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This is a plot of the revenues of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United from the 2003-2004 season to the 2018-2019 season.

The club has been growing its revenues at a similar rate as comparable clubs and at a steady pace since before Messi broke into the team. This suggests that Messi is not, in fact, unique to Barcelona on financial terms.

You can't even really tell when Messi became a superstar just by looking at this.
If your number is correct, this is a good argument.
 

Daysleeper

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Champagne Football

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We've been over these claims and they aren't conclusive at all.

Do you think if Messi left tomorrow, Barcelona shirt sales would drop to 20% of previous?
Real Madrids revenue went from £232 million to £300 million in one season after they signed Beckham.

I do think yes Barcelona's shirt sales would suffer if the greatest player of all time left tomorrow. There's a lot of kids worldwide who may decide they'd prefer a Messi PSG shirt, instead of a Messi Barceloba shirt, if Messi was to switch clubs.
 

Withnail

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Real Madrids revenue went from £232 million to £300 million in one season after they signed Beckham.

I do think yes Barcelona's shirt sales would suffer if the greatest player of all time left tomorrow. There's a lot of kids worldwide who may decide they'd prefer a Messi PSG shirt, instead of a Messi Barceloba shirt, if Messi was to switch clubs.
Down to 20% which is what your stat suggests?
 

RUCK4444

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Without Messi, instead of being on its knees, the club would be buried alive.

A club like Barcelona is more than a Spanish club, a massive institution that can't go bankrupt so everything is fine all things considered. They can always find a political way to refinance any debt over 50 years if needed.

This is beautiful story: a club ready to make massive sacrifices to reward and retain what you would call the heart and soul of the club.
Yeah totally disagree on all of that.

Like others have pointed out, the return on a player like Messi isn’t anywhere near as substantial as people like to think.

I can understand them wanting to keep him, but crippling themselves financially as well as embarrassing themselves by trying to cancel contracts and wage deductions etc, thats not a good look for a team that’s in massive need of a major rebuild.
 

RedPed

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they’re in shit because of the other contracts handed out plus covid.

do some research here:

Is there any way selling Messi makes financial sense for Barcelona?
https://theathletic.com/2018881/202...arcelona-transfer/?source=user_shared_article
You do realise Messi will not go on forever? They're in the shit because they have pandered to his ridiculous demands for so long. And every other club on the planet has been affected by Covid too.

If they're not really fussed by what happens on the pitch, just make him a director or something. It's like Arsenal laying off 50 staff and their long-serving mascot then giving Aubameyang £350K per week. it's just not gonna fly with regular folk.

As I've said before, where is Messi's loyalty and care for his club knowing they're going to all this trouble just to rustle up his new contract? It doesn't make any sense.

If you're talking about the future of the club, it's probably better to do a hard reset, bring him into line or flog him.
 

Tarrou

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this situation is tarnishing his legacy a little bit

I don't blame him for wanting what he's worth, but I think he'd be better off leaving or taking a huge pay cut at this point.

What use is staying at Barca if the team is gutted anyway? He's worth 100s of millions anyway.
 

Daysleeper

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this situation is tarnishing his legacy a little bit

I don't blame him for wanting what he's worth, but I think he'd be better off leaving or taking a huge pay cut at this point.

What use is staying at Barca if the team is gutted anyway? He's worth 100s of millions anyway.
who are we selling that was worth keeping? Umtiti and pjanic were horrible. It’s not like Barca are forced to sell pedri and De Jong.

this is the most ridiculous thread with some of these takes. I could understand if Messi asked for 40M a year but he isn’t. He’s even waiting for Barca to sort things out because la liga has imposed a salary cap for the first time. This squad needs several mediocre players to leave anyway, but people are acting like he isn’t going to be taking the biggest salary reduction with his new contract along with the rest of the team
 

Withnail

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who are we selling that was worth keeping? Umtiti and pjanic were horrible. It’s not like Barca are forced to sell pedri and De Jong.

this is the most ridiculous thread with some of these takes. I could understand if Messi asked for 40M a year but he isn’t. He’s even waiting for Barca to sort things out because la liga has imposed a salary cap for the first time. This squad needs several mediocre players to leave anyway, but people are acting like he isn’t going to be taking the biggest salary reduction with his new contract along with the rest of the team
I would have thought it was more than 40m. Is he taking a big pay-cut? What's he asking for?
 

stevoc

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Messi apparently offered his departure last season with the reasoning that the club could rebuild better without him. It's the club that convinced him to stay. And this is because they are convinced that the rebuild would be more difficult without him. I just read that Griezmann earns €34m per year at Barcelona, Dembele earns €20m. Those are the contracts you want to take a look at, not the one that still makes money instead of burning it.

In the end, Barca might have maneuvered themselves into a corner. They can't afford extending Messi but losing him means they'll lose more money than the contract would cost them, further debasing their financial situation.
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he try to leave on a free transfer even though he had a year to run on his contract?

And he likely tried to leave on a free transfer so he could get an even bigger final pay day somewhere else.
 

Daysleeper

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I would have thought it was more than 40m. Is he taking a big pay-cut? What's he asking for?
rumour is 12M a year. A substantial layout. La liga’s salary cap is what’s causing them to make cuts elsewhere
 

Daysleeper

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Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he try to leave on a free transfer even though he had a year to run on his contract?

And he likely tried to leave on a free transfer so he could get an even bigger final pay day somewhere else.
You are incorrect. He was supposed to be a free agent but covid pushed back the end of the season. He had the option of early termination for his contract and only exercised it because things between him and prior president Barto was so bad.
 

Isotope

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Real Madrids revenue went from £232 million to £300 million in one season after they signed Beckham.

I do think yes Barcelona's shirt sales would suffer if the greatest player of all time left tomorrow. There's a lot of kids worldwide who may decide they'd prefer a Messi PSG shirt, instead of a Messi Barceloba shirt, if Messi was to switch clubs.
When Ronaldo left Madrid, did Madrid go shite in shirt revenue?
 

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When Ronaldo left Madrid, did Madrid go shite in shirt revenue?
Juventus sold 520,000 jerseys with Ronaldo's name on the back of them, within 24 hours of his signing.

Cristiano left Madrid because Juventus were willing to pay him the 500,000 a week he was demanding that Madrid were not. Probably 50,000 a week more than he was already getting at Madrid. Madrid made a decision that they had enough stars on massive salaries to handle the blow, but they haven't been the same since.

Barcelona have probably observed the huge hole left in Madrid since Ronaldo has left, and perhaps feel Madrid made a mistake, and are thinking maybe it's probably worthwhile on all levels, to give Messi the 500,000 a week he's demanding.
 

Isotope

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So it seems like Madrid didn't really lost much on Ronaldo's shirts then.
 

Lord SInister

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he rumoured to be getting a 12M euro a year contract. It’s not like he’s asking for a 100M per year contract. The club needs to shed contracts regardless. Messi’s next contract with Barca will be comfortably less than what he got before.

People’s overreaction in this thread is comical (not yours obviously, but other people)
His too.
Messi and all Barcelona players took huge wage cuts during covid.
Board is incompetent as hell, all criticising Messi for the contract just don't like him generally, and it is simple as that.
Similar to some people who say, Kante is fake humble because his wage is 290k per week.
 

Daysleeper

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His too.
Messi and all Barcelona players took huge wage cuts during covid.
Board is incompetent as hell, all criticising Messi for the contract just don't like him generally, and it is simple as that.
Similar to some people who say, Kante is fake humble because his wage is 290k per week.
exactly, this thread is a total joke. Well said
 

Tarrou

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who are we selling that was worth keeping? Umtiti and pjanic were horrible. It’s not like Barca are forced to sell pedri and De Jong.

this is the most ridiculous thread with some of these takes. I could understand if Messi asked for 40M a year but he isn’t. He’s even waiting for Barca to sort things out because la liga has imposed a salary cap for the first time. This squad needs several mediocre players to leave anyway, but people are acting like he isn’t going to be taking the biggest salary reduction with his new contract along with the rest of the team
Well, like I said, I don't blame Messi. It's clearly Barca's management who have messed up.

But Messi will get a lot of the blame for it. Do you disagree with that?
 

KeanoMagicHat

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People who are saying that Barcelona are nothing without Messi and revenues would collapse, it seems to be assuming that they don't replace Messi in any way. The massive void in wages could be made up by Haaland, Mbappé or others, who might not be comparable in a commercial level yet, but with success and marketing, will eventually catch up.

That's what top clubs do, they replace and move on. Barcelona have had Romario, Stoichkov, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho before Messi anyway and will have many stars in the future. Even if directly replacing the greatest player in their history is impossible, Messi can't play forever, there comes a day very soon when he will retire anyway.
 

Pexbo

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Messi is going to be the name on the most Barca shirts for the next few decades. You don’t need to pay him a fortune to maintain that.
 

Chesterlestreet

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Juventus sold 520,000 jerseys with Ronaldo's name on the back of them, within 24 hours of his signing.
Which is what you'd expect.

The question is how much money Juventus made from that.

As has been pointed out a million times on here, clubs - even huge ones - don't make a lot of money from shirt sales. And definitely not enough to finance the transfer + wages of a player like C. Ronaldo.

ETA The fallacy here (not directed at you personally - it's a general thing) amounts to:

a) assuming - bizarrely - that if half a million fans rush out to get their new Ronnie shirt five minutes after the transfer has been confirmed, these people/customers are to be viewed as a bonus of sorts: as if a significant percentage of them wouldn't have purchased a new shirt anyway at some point.

b) assuming that the club itself makes a huge profit from selling Ronnie shirts. It was estimated that Ronnie's arrival generated shirt sales to the tune of £45m very quickly (within days). That's a lot of money but somewhere between 90% and 85% of that benefits the manufacturer - not the football club.

ETA II Unless they had an abnormal deal with Adidas at the time, Juventus would've made - say - £6-8m from the initial shirt sales. And then you have to factor in how much of that they would've made in an average pre-season (without the Ronnie factor) anyway: a) a lot of people do buy shirts every year, regardless of individual players and b) most of them don't buy multiple shirts, i.e. they won't be buying their usual new shirt in addition to the "special" Ronnie shirt they just had to rush out and get.

In short, given how much Juventus had to fork out for Ronaldo - transfer + wages - what the club makes in terms of extra/bonus cash from shirt sales is...nothing, really: it's probably close to being negligible as an actual factor in the equation.
 
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We need an rvn

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Not the shirt sale myth!
shirt sales would be one element of the revenue Messi generates for the club.

Reports are Messi has generated €600m in revenue since his last contract signed 2017 and earned close to €400m.

Why should Messi sign a €10m a year contract when he's still bringing in all that cash for the club.

As I said, he's seen the club treat his best mate Suarez like crap last year so I'm sure there are elements and people within the club he doesn't like too, hence looking out for himself now.
 

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shirt sales would be one element of the revenue Messi generates for the club.

Reports are Messi has generated €600m in revenue since his last contract signed 2017 and earned close to €400m.

Why should Messi sign a €10m a year contract when he's still bringing in all that cash for the club.

As I said, he's seen the club treat his best mate Suarez like crap last year so I'm sure there are elements and people within the club he doesn't like too, hence looking out for himself now.
Because Barcelona as a club need to look at their long term prospects. Messi won't be there forever. It's better to take that plunge yourself so you can control what happens instead of say if Messi unexpectedly signs for City and now you're screwed cos you didn't plan for it.