Lionel Messi’s Obscene Contract

[Matt007a]

If Barca agreed to these insane wages then why on earth would Messi say no? He's shot himself in the foot a bit because his wages are one of the main reasons Barcelona are struggling financially to bring in the players they need. They should have let him go last summer to get the wages off their books and start the rebuild. Having said that if they are paying him over £100m a year, only City or PSG could move in and they'd have a job getting that one past FFP. That wouldn't be Barca's problem once the contract is terminated mind.

Sure he's their greatest ever player but you can't let someone become bigger than the club, which is what they've done. Both sides are to blame for letting that happen.

 

[cyberman]

That's the problem, if they can't make money out of Messi, they probably don't deserve him and they definitely can't afford him.



Scholes has the marketability of a wet toilet paper, so its hardly a like for like comparison.

Marketability has little to do with this surely? What can he sell that brings in more than his wages per week?

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Marketability has little to do with this surely? What can he sell that brings in more than his wages per week?

Apparel, sponsorships, endorsements, summer tour income, MOUs with middle eastern countries etc. Their jersey sponsorship value alone would take a nosedive without him.

 

[cyberman]

Apparel, sponsorships, endorsements, summer tour income, MOUs with middle eastern countries etc. Their jersey sponsorship value alone would take a nosedive without him.

Yeah but 2m a week! Plus the way that pushes up Griezmanns etc wages behind him.
I remember reading they made a loss in their last CL win because it triggered so many clauses in the players contracts that it wiped everything out.
Its insane.

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

There’s never been a more fitting situation to use the phase “bigger than the club”. That contract is disgusting, seems Barca would rather bankrupt themselves than part with Messi.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Yeah but 2m a week! Plus the way that pushes up Griezmanns etc wages behind him.
I remember reading they made a loss in their last CL win because it triggered so many clauses in the players contracts that it wiped everything out.
Its insane.

That is an issue because they've been dangerously generous with the contracts they have doled out to players that aren't Messi. Paying Messi what he's worth shouldn't be an issue if they pay the others their market value without operating like Messi alone creates an inflation in wages.

 

[Adam McNeill]

Somebody once said to me "You're worth exactly what you're paid" so fair play to Messi, rinse what you can out the system.

Having said that...

I will never pay another penny into football again (when you have paramedics starting on a salary of £21k).

We could literally change the world as football fans!

 

[joi_division]

Messi will make Barcelona FC money for the next 30 years just as Maradonna still makes Napoli money. You can go to any airport in the world and you'll see someone wearing a Messi jersey.

The money he earns is a joke though. Surely there will be some sort of FFP investigation.

 

[Zehner]

Barca is making 13,5m a week. Do you think it's unreasonable to assume that 15% of their "customers"/viewers tune in/buy jerseys/tickets/whatever because of Messi? I don't. We're living in a globalized world and foreign fans nowadays identify much more with a player than with the club. After all, local patriotism doesn't play a role if you are following European football from Asia or the US. I will probably cancel my DAZN subscription (German broadcaster of La Liga), too, if Messi leaves Barcelona since given the current state of Barca and Madrid, he's the last remaining exciting asset of the Spanish league. So TV money will take a hit (Barca is selling this autonomously as far as I know), they will also have to lower their ticket prices most likely and while Barca fans will probably still buy jerseys, all those who bought them because of Messi will not do so. You could go on like that with probably every revenue stream bar maybe VIP tickets. And as a soft factor, it will also negatively influence their ability to sign players since the incentive of having played together with the GOAT isn't there anymore. That's not even considering the effect his departure might have on their results in league and CL by the way.

 

[Ronaldo's ego]

You’re worth what your employer is willing to pay you.

 

[Pocho]

Barca is making 13,5m a week. Do you think it's unreasonable to assume that 15% of their "customers"/viewers tune in/buy jerseys/tickets/whatever because of Messi? I don't. We're living in a globalized world and foreign fans nowadays identify much more with a player than with the club. After all, local patriotism doesn't play a role if you are following European football from Asia or the US. I will probably cancel my DAZN subscription (German broadcaster of La Liga), too, if Messi leaves Barcelona since given the current state of Barca and Madrid, he's the last remaining exciting asset of the Spanish league. So TV money will take a hit (Barca is selling this autonomously as far as I know), they will also have to lower their ticket prices most likely and while Barca fans will probably still buy jerseys, all those who bought them because of Messi will not do so. You could go on like that with probably every revenue stream bar maybe VIP tickets. And as a soft factor, it will also negatively influence their ability to sign players since the incentive of having played together with the GOAT isn't there anymore. That's not even considering the effect his departure might have on their results in league and CL by the way.

Laporta, he should know, just said that 1/3 of Barcelona's income is because of Messi.

 

[Zehner]

Laporta, he should know, just said that 1/3 of Barcelona's income is because of Messi.

People have no understanding for those things. They read the figure and are all like "no footballer should earn that much", then go on and pay 50€ per week for pay TV, order a 110€ shirt and 600€ season ticket every year and spend hours reading up on football every day. I have no problem with people spending so much on football, it's their free choice, but if you're willing to spend so much money, you really shouldn't be irritated that the very best players earn as much as they do.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Ronaldo fans on the other hand are perfect

Duh!! So lame.

 

[Fanatic 00237]

Well they had their years with him where no one could touch them, so now maybe it's payback time.

But if we could have a Messi like player for the next 10 years that give us CL's, titles, jealously, etc, then I'd take the greed and crap that comes when things fade away.

In addition to being one of the most inspiring playing figures of all time, with the thrills he brings. Let’s be honest here, which football fan wouldn’t?

Well, as long as football fans are stupid enough to finance contracts like this, it is not really obscene. Until you at least stop buying pay per view and stop buying jerseys that are worth 5 £ for 90£, you have nothing to complain, really. It is the fans decision that contracts like these are possible.

This is the answer to the question all day long!

What I don't understand: People argue no footballer should earn that much since it is obscene. Then what should happen? Barca is obviously still making profit with him. So are you arguing that the money earned shouldn't go to the player generating it but to the club employing him? Why?

I don't get the logic behind all this. The outrage is directed towards Messi when the actual "problem" is that there's so much money in the market. Robert Downey Jr. reportedly earned 130m € for his role in Avengers Endgame alone. Is that unwarranted, too?

Honestly, like everyone else I believe that Barca's transfer and coaching strategy in recent years have been shambolic but they won't pay Messi so much money without ensuring he's worth it. They will have conducted the necessary market research which probably told them that they will lose more than they save by losing him. It's not unreasonable to assume he's generating at least 20% of their revenue at this point.

I find it strange, with all what he brings to Barcelona as a club and as a city (I’m pretty sure lots of tourists have visited the town over the years because they wanted to have a chance to watch the team play) and considering he’s clearly not as marketable as CR outside football, it’s unsurprising that he and his representatives would try to make the most from his playing career, similarly to what others do in parallel professions like you pointed out.

As has been pointed out lots of times in this thread, his contract in isolation didn’t cripple Barcelona, rather I think the contract in the context of a host of other circumstances (of which I believe COVID was the fatal blow) did. And that’s all on the club’s board for poor management all round.

 

[Tallis]

People have no understanding for those things. They read the figure and are all like "no footballer should earn that much", then go on and pay 50€ per week for pay TV, order a 110€ shirt and 600€ season ticket every year and spend hours reading up on football every day. I have no problem with people spending so much on football, it's their free choice, but if you're willing to spend so much money, you really shouldn't be irritated that the very best players earn as much as they do.

Some may feel jealous about the money Messi makes but not all posters do.

I think what people need to acknowledge is:

1. Messi’s wages are contributing to Barca’s financial distress. Yes - they have had transfer failures which contribute to the distress as well. Messi certainly is not the only reason.

2. Messi is exceptionally greedy - cheating on taxes, his contract and his wanting to leave Barca when they had players take a pay cut are all indicative of this.

You may argue that his contract is what he is worth / what Barca agreed to. But that’s being naive. His camp would have demanded every last penny that Barca could pay and no Barca board could have let Messi walk on a free. Fans don’t think rationally - and don’t worry about things like finances etc. The board would have been hunted all over Catalunya if they let Messi walk.

On a side note - I much prefer to watch the current Barca with their youth players. Pedri / De Jong etc. Frankly - this is the first season in a long time I am enjoying watching them. Messi / Suarez made them somewhat predictable.

 

[Zehner]

Some may feel jealous about the money Messi makes but not all posters do.

I think what people need to acknowledge is:

1. Messi’s wages are contributing to Barca’s financial distress. Yes - they have had transfer failures which contribute to the distress as well. Messi certainly is not the only reason.

2. Messi is exceptionally greedy - cheating on taxes, his contract and his wanting to leave Barca when they had players take a pay cut are all indicative of this.

You may argue that his contract is what he is worth / what Barca agreed to. But that’s being naive. His camp would have demanded every last penny that Barca could pay and no Barca board could have let Messi walk on a free. Fans don’t think rationally - and don’t worry about things like finances etc. The board would have been hunted all over Catalunya if they let Messi walk.

On a side note - I much prefer to watch the current Barca with their youth players. Pedri / De Jong etc. Frankly - this is the first season in a long time I am enjoying watching them. Messi / Suarez made them somewhat predictable.

1. I don't get this. He earns them more then he costs them, how is he contributing to the distress? I mean, as long as you get more of of your investment the only thing you could criticize are opportunity costs. And therefore you need to have an alternative investment option with a higher ROI. Barca was so desparate to keep Messi for another season despite their financial troubles because they anticipated their revenues would nose dive the moment he's gone.

2. That's a very colorful description of the scenario. It definitely would be a matter of communication. They could've also just let it slip that Messi was demanding half a billion in five years and couldn't afford it and it would've been a different story, just as it is now.


I also think your deductions are a bit populistic. Sure, the tax fraud he commited could've been greed but it also could've been carelessness like he testified. After all he most likely has no clue about such stuff. People like him pay agencies to save as much taxes as possible and the borders between clever and illegal are pretty thin in this "economy".

 

[Piratesoup]

Anything is worth as much as the dumbest rich guy is willing to pay.
Can't really fault Messi for taking every dime he can, but you can fault Barcelona for overpaying pretty much all of their players. And I think that relatively speaking Messi's contract is not among Barca's worst, even though the amount is absolutely obscene.

 

[hubbuh]

That's the problem, if they can't make money out of Messi, they probably don't deserve him and they definitely can't afford him.



Scholes has the marketability of a wet toilet paper, so its hardly a like for like comparison.

I was just using Scholes as an example ffs, it wasn't intended to be a like for like comparison. If Ronaldo had stayed, Beckham, Giggs etc. The point is surely obvious.

 

[Daysleeper]

Messi the greatest CL player ever?

I said Ronaldo was

 

[Daysleeper]

Ronaldo still finds ways to score in CL games? You cant blame Ronaldo for only scoring 2 when they need 3 to qualify.
Thats absurd.

huh? So you don’t blame Messi for Liverpool when he scored 2 and then created every chance in the second leg? I’m not blaming Ronaldo, I’m saying one man can’t do it alone, after Madrid it’s been early cl exits for Ronaldo because no one else helps him. Not sure why you are so confused

 

[Daysleeper]

Yeah but 2m a week! Plus the way that pushes up Griezmanns etc wages behind him.
I remember reading they made a loss in their last CL win because it triggered so many clauses in the players contracts that it wiped everything out.
Its insane.

messi brings in over 30% of Barca’s overall revenue. I know not everyone has A subscription to the Athletic but they actually broke down how losing Messi hurts Barca much more financially in the long term than short. They also broke down how is worth his salary because he gives such a massive boost to every merchandise related piece and if anything they should’ve been making even more. Money off of him. He is worth the “obscene” wages. As for Griezmann he was on INSANE wages his last contract with Atletico, highest paid player in their history. That’s where that comes from. Barca handed out plenty of stupid contracts, but Messi wasn’t the issue, they still profited on him he’s massive for brand and sponsorships and tourists who only casually care for football but wanted to see Messi in person. The issue is handing out so many dumb contracts to umtiti, coutinho, Griezmann, rakitic, and some others.

 

[Daysleeper]

Anything is worth as much as the dumbest rich guy is willing to pay.
Can't really fault Messi for taking every dime he can, but you can fault Barcelona for overpaying pretty much all of their players. And I think that relatively speaking Messi's contract is not among Barca's worst, even though the amount is absolutely obscene.

this guy gets it

 

[prateik]

Haha.. what a terrible deal..
2 la liga titled an noting in europe..
was a terrible deal regardless.. but considering how little they have won, its absolute madness.. wasting that sort of money on any 1 person is just irresponsible and the person who sanctioned it should be held accountable.

 

[prateik]

Was thinking about us .. what have we wasted on Pogba?
90m transfer fee.. signing on fee + agent fee + loyalty bonus + wages + other bonuses + image rights.

Upwards of 300m for someone who has contributed far far less than Messi.. and has generated a lot less in return for the club as well..

Turns out there is silly money in football..

 

[VanKenny]

There are dozens of ridiculous and stupid things that the Barcelona board have done in the last decade, this contract doesnt even make the list of worse board decisions.

Thats what it took to keep the greatest ever on their starting XI, and keep him from joining other team. Thats a high price but it is what it is, and IMO its well worth it. They didnt pay him this just for shits and giggles, they knew it would benefit both Barca and the player.

 

[saint Jose]

He will be over the moon, knows his worth when woody calls him now.

yes, this is the biggest bombshell, now everyone knows how much obscene money Messi is on holding the club hostage players like CR7 can use it as leverage to demand higher wages when he moves or signs on again at Juve.

 

[Daysleeper]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Joan Laporta: “Leo generates a lot more revenue than the money they cost. We have carried out a study and it showed that the player generates a third of Barça's total income”

 

[JSArsenal]

For anyone who thinks Messi makes too much money,

Where would you rather the money go?

Do you not think that Barcelona had accountants and other high executives run the figures and realise that Messi is worth more to them than what they're paying him?

Is it just the amount that is obscene? When a club or any corporation is earning billions off of the back of their employees who generate that money, why is it an issue for said employees to get, what really isn't even a fair share of said billions?

I'd honestly much rather that most of the money in football went to the footballers, coaches and staff that make all of this possible. Instead of the money being swapped between clubs in terms of transfer fees, pay offs to agents and into a billionaire's pocket.

 

[horsechoker]

For anyone who thinks Messi makes too much money,

Where would you rather the money go?

To me

 

[Sayros]

yes, this is the biggest bombshell, now everyone knows how much obscene money Messi is on holding the club hostage players like CR7 can use it as leverage to demand higher wages when he moves or signs on again at Juve.

Why would Juve or anybody give CR7 or anybody else Messi-money? It's never gonna happen, especially since he doesn't have the built relationship over many years and trophies. His best shot would have been at Madrid, and they wouldn't have gone for it either because they're not as stupid as Barca's board.

 

[rcoobc]

To me

Or me.

 

[Brophs]

No matter how much they would have saved by not having Messi, they'd have just spunked that money up the wall.

 

[Pocho]

https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/brutal-cifra-messi-genera-barca-11491695

Messis is cheap.

 

[Jam]

For anyone who thinks Messi makes too much money,

Where would you rather the money go?

Do you not think that Barcelona had accountants and other high executives run the figures and realise that Messi is worth more to them than what they're paying him?

Is it just the amount that is obscene? When a club or any corporation is earning billions off of the back of their employees who generate that money, why is it an issue for said employees to get, what really isn't even a fair share of said billions?

I'd honestly much rather that most of the money in football went to the footballers, coaches and staff that make all of this possible. Instead of the money being swapped between clubs in terms of transfer fees, pay offs to agents and into a billionaire's pocket.

When said contract is quite literally bankrupting the club; no.

 

[MadMike]

When said contract is quite literally bankrupting the club; no.

There has been a lot of financial mismanagement at Barca you could point your finger at as reasons for their state. Messi might be costing a bomb but he’s delivering the goods. They invested literally 1 billion euros in the last 5 years and most of it has been down the drain.

 

[Daysleeper]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Messi generates €235,610,000 profit in 3 seasons

 

[The Firestarter]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Messi generates €235,610,000 profit in 3 seasons

Yes , that was indeed the headline.

 

[VanKenny]

Messi generates €235,610,000 profit in 3 seasons

Who would have thought? According to Redcafe, Barcelona is in the business of losing money.

 

[Daysleeper]

Who would have thought? According to Redcafe, Barcelona is in the business of losing money.

haha Barca have definitely been foolish in the transfer market but were #1 in football revenue for 2020. Obviously covid has changed a lot of things but Messi is the biggest reason those sponsorships and other deals have been lucrative as they are. Rakuten isn’t throwing gobs of money at Barca because of Coutinho

 

[alexthelion]

This. He will go down as their greatest ever player, and its ending like this. Bartomeu is attrocious.

I say all that as somebody who hates the more than a club shit.

Will he really? Ahead of Maradona, Pele and Cruyff?