Paris Saint-Germain have recorded football's highest-ever wage bill with the signing of Lionel Messi and others last season pushing their outlay to an eye-watering £643million per year.
There was a 45 per cent leap in the French club's wage expenditure after they signed Messi, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi and others at the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign.
Messi reportedly earned £25.6m last season, with his salary added to other big earners at the club including Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Football Benchmark's European Champions Report 2023 says PSG's wage bill for 2021-22, the most recent figures available, is the highest figure ever registered by a football club.
And that is before France star Mbappe agreed his gargantuan new contract at the beginning of the current season, having snubbed Real Madrid, which is apparently worth £547m over three years.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, PSG's enormous wage bill led them to record a £326m loss in their latest financial figures.
Back in September, PSG were handed a £56m fine by UEFA, of which £9m had to be paid in full, for a breach of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
The remaining balance is dependent on the club meeting FFP targets over the coming years.
As was pointed out on Twitter, the PSG figure dwarfs the previous highest wage bill in football - which was the £478m outlay at Barcelona, whom Messi then played for, in 2019.
The third-highest was also Barcelona, in 2018, when they paid their players £466m.
Indeed, Barcelona feature five times in the top eight on the all-time wage list - and all from the last five years.
But PSG's desperate quest to win the Champions League for the first time has led them to spend more and more on wages for their stars.
Spanish defender Ramos signed for PSG after leaving Real Madrid in the summer of 2021 and it was reported he was taking home around £440,000 a month after tax.
Hakimi, who signed from Inter Milan for £51m in July 2021, also increased the wage bill.
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🔙2⃣0⃣1⃣1⃣ 🌟🔝 OnThisDay, Leo Messi was receiving his second Ballon d'Or.
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🎙️Argentine Player Nico Tagliafico says: “After Mbappe’s penalty, all the pressure was on the first taker. If Messi missed, we would definitely lose the world cup final. I was shitt*ng.. very nervous, but Leo Messi kicked calmly as if he were kicking ball with his son Mateo in the garden.”😳 Messi is the definition of a true captain. This man has now become pressure proof after soo many heartbreaks. 🇦🇷🐐