He still tried for force himself out of the club at the end of last season. They could could just have let him go. Would have been the ideal time to let go if they didnt think he justified his wages.
Lionel Messi’s Obscene Contract
- Thread starter Port Vale Devil
- Start date
No offense but this posts suggests that you don't really understand the economics behind the contract. The numbers which went around these past few weeks make it quite clear that Messi is Barca's financial life insurance. If they had lost him in the summer, they'd probably struggle even more since most of their sponsor's contracts have Messi clauses that see their payments drop by up to 50% percent if he doesn't play or leaves the club. Compared to a transfer like Coutinho, his contract is also much better for Barca's cash flow due to how the payments are scheduled.
So there's the financial perspective (having Messi in the team actually makes the rebuild easier) and there's the sporting perspective (time to move on and rebuild without Messi). Thing is, Barca has no money although they currently employ one of the two best cash cows in the game. They need to bring in new faces and ring in the post Messi era but they also need him to finance that rebuild, especially in their current situation. Saving his wages and losing him on a free most likely won't be enough for that since he's generating more than he costs.
Agree with all of this, especially the bolded parts.
His contract is based on how much revenue he brings into the club. And no player brings in more vast fortunes of profit than Messi.
The focus is on his obscene contract now, but Cristiano earns a similar salary at Juventus yet nobody seems to complain.
I think Messi feels let down that a world class coach like Pep or Klopp wasn't installed for many years, despite the huge profits of the club before the pandemic hit.
The focus is on his obscene contract now, but Cristiano earns a similar salary at Juventus yet nobody seems to complain.
I think Messi feels let down that a world class coach like Pep or Klopp wasn't installed for many years, despite the huge profits of the club before the pandemic hit.
None taken haha. Yes, I have not seen Barca's sponsorship deals or the relevant stipulations. I guess it makes sense from the sponsor's point of view but I wonder if Barca would need to make such sensitive deals for the club. I also wonder if the reports you refer to are believable. But if so, then it obviously makes the club vulnerable to structure their operations, and financial security to one player, after all it's inevitable this relationship comes to a stop sooner or later. So where will that leave the club then? Will sponsors income drop by 50% in the summer if Messi goes? How is this economical in the long run?
You start off by explaining how the Messi model is invaluable to the club economics (although it's clearly temporary) and then you move into an argument that this model leaves Barca with no money and need for recruitment. How? And how do you convince Messi to spend the twilight of his career in a build-up, which btw would probably be dented when he finally does leaves? Anyway, my view is that Barca operating scheme and deals are precarious, and I the Messi relationship plays a big part in that.
I gave my opinion on the economic points in an earlier post in this thread:
So IMO, Barca's risk management is definitely worth debating since they didn't really diversify their revenue streams if one player is responsible for so much revenue. However, having a GOAT candidate in your team for 15 years also poses a great opportunity you don't want to miss out on. I think it's questionable if Barca would've made the first spot in the money league if they didn't capitalize on Messi so much. They definitely profited from it immensely. I also think they tried to diversify this "portfolio" by bringing in other stars with great marketing potential like Coutinho and especially Griezmann but it just didn't really work out.
I believe the numbers proof that Barca's incredible revenue figures are extremely inflated by Messi. The organic club brand itself isn't in the same ball park as United and Madrid. Their shirt sales for example are nowhere near. Messi is the only reason Barca achieved the spheres they achieved. I don't think there were any alternatives to building their income on Messi to the degree we're witnessing.
This place could be hilarious if Messi joins City this summer. 
Maybe because he is not half the player Messi is
You might want to check Bayern’s payroll. Hint: it is one of the highest.
How is Messi to know what Barcelona can and cannot afford? It is up to Barcelona to put their foot down and say they cannot pay.
Why should he not ask for more money if the club are stupid enough to give it to him? They've already done calculations and Messi generates 1/3rd of Barcas income. The problem for Barca is they spent transfer fees and huge wages on Coutinho and Dembele and keep making dumb decisions. Messi is an employee and will always do what is best for him.Of course this is just an estimate but:
DDG, Pogba, Maguire, Fernandes, Mata, Bruno, Shaw, Rashford, Cavani, Martial, Lindelof, Fred, AWB and Henderson - combined apparently earn about £2.7 million a week
Multiply that by 52 weeks over 4 years and you get about £560 million
I know Messi is better than our players but he has made as as much as roughly our 14 highest earners combined. Just to put it into perspective. He earns more than the entire Liverpool-side combined. He must go down in history as the best and most selfish player ever. Just to get the salary he wants, he is willing to run his club into bankruptcy - and evey worse, he makes so much that the majority of his teammates probably don't even have 5% of his total salary.
Edit: I just notice that the amount was in Euro - so maybe just as much as 11-12 of our players then
Funny you say that when Ronaldo asked Madrid to give him something similar but Florentino wisely showed him the door.
The club is at fault for letting a single player get that much influence.
If Messi was the most selfish player in history he would have run down his contract in his prime and join Real Madrid.
Because its running the club into the abyss? At what point does Messi stop taking advatage of them to the point they arent far off financial armageddon?
No it isn't..
He tried force his way out last summer. They insisted on keeping him. Its their failure in the transfer market thats fecked them. Like with us.
It's simply the kind of contract you give when you only see financial sunlit uplands stretching on to infinity. If you got hold of Barcelona's budget and accounts forecasts, you would probably see they expected revenue growth of 10%+ a year or more essentially forever.
In that context, the contract offered to Messi could make sense at the time they gave it.
Not they're seeing revenue growth of -30% (or whatever, don't have exact numbers), the contract is totally unaffordable.
In that context, the contract offered to Messi could make sense at the time they gave it.
Not they're seeing revenue growth of -30% (or whatever, don't have exact numbers), the contract is totally unaffordable.
But Messi had them over a barrell. If he said he was leaving the fans would demand the board be sacked, as last summer.
Then the next president would promise to offer Messi a new contract and he would probably stay.
No board could see that out, literally impossible.
Taking advantage? Your talking as if Barcelona are some poor helpless club. Ronaldo tried it with Madrid and was shown the door.
It's wholly on the club for bowing to the whims of one player.
Blame the club structure then. Mes que un club and all that.
a player is entitled to ask for whatever they want.
Perhaps if Barca hadn’t set the precident of offering a new contract every 2 years throughout his career, perhaps he wouldn’t be paid so much.
have no sympathy for Barca.
perhaps if they were actually “more than just a club” then they wouldn’t have such an issue.
should have let him go last summer.
Its not really the structures fault, there is no law saying they have to give Messi his contract.
Maybe an American owner cocooned in the States could sell him but Barca couldnt and Messi knew that.
Its ok to say Messi was greedy and took advantage, he is still the greatest player of all time. Those numbers tell the story
Its clear he's on the decline. He tried to force his way out. Can't get feel sorry for Barca insisting on keeping him.
I find it remarkable how people just go on with the "Messi is ruining the club financially" narrative although the opposite has been proven.
Has to do something with 09 and 11 finals, I think. Most of caf seems anti-messi more than anything.
The club are awful financially. wasted 130m on Coutinho and 100m on Dembele. I can see that. But ff you knew your partner has a gambling problem, would you raise the Alimony to 25% of their income?Has to do something with 09 and 11 finals, I think. Most of caf seems anti-messi more than anything.
It's ~16%, not 25%, and if I'm responsible for 30% of their income then hell yes I would. Without a second thought and I'd probably even feel generous that I didn't demanded more. Messi probably has an ROI of almost 200% after a month or two. That's insane.
Ronaldo right now: hold my beer
Thats not how the real world works. Hes a player, not a partner.
How are you calculating these estimates? If its based off trophies and prize money I would discount it as its a team game. Is it shirt sales etc?
I can't believe that so many people in here feel sorry for or are leaning towards the side of the football club here. We're talking about FC Barcelona, the multi-billion dollar world famous club not Dagenham & Redbridge or your local semi-professional club.
the athletic did a breakdown on what revenue he brings in to Barca and he is responsible for a third of their revenue
Of course that's how the real world works. If you are responsible for 30% of your employers revenue and offers of competitors are flying in, you obviously will negotiate a high salary or leave.that's supply and demand.
The attitude of many fans towards player salaries doesn't maky any sense. One could think football clubs are non-profit organizations and not companies making hundreds of millions of annual profit. If they'd pay their players only half the salary, those savings would immediately go into the pockets of a business. Is that ethically more correct than paying a player ~50% of the momey he generates for the club?
Mes que un crooks.
Nah. No way. The whole finance department and accounting would know. The bank would know. His agent would know. The clerk in Barcelona back office would know. Tax person would know. Somebody typing those numbers would know.
Do you actually have any clue of what you are talking about? Which club has ever made a 100 mill profit, let alone "hundreds of millions"?
Come on, it's kind of obvious that I intended to write revenue, not profit. I'm not the first one this has happened to and I guess I won't be the last one. I know the difference, I promise, and I also know that football clubs don't make hundreds of millions of annual profit. I mean, I wrote essays in here adressing how the numbers quoted from the study actually add up and even mentioned how the Messi contract is actually very favorable for Barcelona from a cash flow/liquidity perspective. I'm not an expert on the financial management of football clubs and never claimed to be, I only know some basics, but I don't think it's fair to cherry pick one sentence and ridicule me for it.Do you actually have any clue of what you are talking about? Which club has ever made a 100 mill profit, let alone "hundreds of millions"?
Most clubs barely run their clubs on profit, so your whole point was ridiculous, whether you meant revenue or profit. If clubs go by your suggestions, they'd not be able to even break even at the end of a fiscal year.
How can my point be ridiculous from an accounting perspective when it was an ethical point to begin with? In the post you quoted, we were debating whether or not it was ethical that an employee earns ~17% of his employer's revenue. I'm getting the feeling you didn't really read the thread before you made your post.