Lionel Messi is 'worth it' and the leak that his Barcelona deal will end up costing £492million was a 'betrayal', claim the Argentine press as they came out to defend their national icon from criticism.
El Mundo, who published the details of the contract on Sunday under a headline which said it will 'ruin Barcelona', said the combination of fixed salary, image rights, variables and the tax that Barcelona have had to pay on the contract will rise to €555,237,619 (£492m).
The significant contract leak drew criticism amid Barcelona's dreadful financial position but Argentine newspaper Ole put Messi's career numbers on their front page as part of their staunch defence.
'You want Messi's numbers'? asked the Argentinian daily on the front page.
'Here you have them,' it continued, and they splashed his 650 goals, 260 assists and 755 games in huge letters across its cover.
'The leaking of his contract is a betrayal', Ole said, adding: 'He responded on Sunday with another brilliant goal'.
The El Mundo story surrounded the four-year deal Messi signed in 2017 which will end this June when the 33-year-old will be able to leave for nothing.
Messi has been guaranteed €138m (£122m) a season in gross salary according to the leaked contract.
He earned a 'renewal fee' of €115m (£102m) for accepting the contract and is said to take home €79m (£69m) each year in a 'loyalty' bonus for staying at the Nou Camp.
The report from El Mundo goes on to claim that Messi still has five months left on his current deal and has already earned an eye-watering £452m (€511m) so far.
The Spanish newspaper put both his normal contract and image rights under the microscope before breaking down where certain variables were met since the 2017-18 campaign.
As a part of his current deal, Messi earned an extra £616,172 (€695,748) for winning FIFA's Best Player award during the 2018-19 campaign.
The Argentine is also guaranteed a whopping £3.1m (€3.5m) if Barcelona win the Champions League – something the club hasn't achieved since 2015.
Other variables include Messi banking another £1.75m (€1.9m) if he plays 60 per cent of games while he will receive extra payments each knockout stage of the Champions League he reached, as well as winning LaLiga and the Copa del Rey.
Out of the 10 variables listed, only one of them was met which came after the Catalan club reached the last 16 of the Champions League and saw Messi bank £985,966 (€1.1m) for doing so.
In total, the jaw-dropping £492m total makes Messi's contract the biggest in sports history, beating the likes of Patrick Mahomes' £402m 10-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs and Canelo Alvarez's £292m five-fight deal with DAZN.
The leak has infuriated Messi's camp who are now looking to prepare a lawsuit against El Mundo as a result, according to RAC1. The feeling of 'betrayal' was felt back in Argentina.
Following news of the leak, Barcelona stated that it regretted the publication of the private document while announcing their support for Messi.
The statement read: 'In view of the information published today in the newspaper El Mundo, in relation to the professional contract signed between FC Barcelona and the player Lionel Messi, the club regrets its publication given that it is a private document governed by the principle of confidentiality between the parties.
'FC Barcelona categorically denies any responsibility for the publication of this document, and will take appropriate legal action against the newspaper El Mundo, for any damage that may be caused as a result of this publication.
'FC Barcelona expresses its absolute support for Lionel Messi, especially in the face of any attempt to discredit his image, and to damage his relationship with the entity where he has worked to become the best player in the world and in football history.'
leossi10
476
the issue is not messi is worth it or not,everyone know he is much more valuable. issue is who leaked it
Ngachon
436
Messi the "loyal king"
Huebdmu
432
The malicious and ill conceived comments trying to make Messi look as though he's the sole cause of all the financial meltdown at Barcelona can only come from a cheap, jealous, vindictive and semi illiterate head. Bartomeu wrote that contract together with his board and the other party agreed to the terms and conditions proposed. Infact without the Coronavirus no one will be sniffing around and trying to portray Messi as evil or greed, Barcelona have been paid substantial amounts through endorsements, sales of replica jerseys of Messi and many other football contracts with other sponsors, La Liga is also a beneficiary of the Messi brand. You can only stand on an anthill and scream murder if you have never signed any contract in your entire life, try to engage a qualified lawyer she/he will explain the rules pertaining to a contract. It is never a document signed with one party having a pistol pointed to their head.
Game_analyser
425
most loyal player in the world😁😁😁
Evans0323
413
He scored and assist more than his games, only Messi can do this in football
RONALDO_7_ind
368
MESSI : MONEY NO DOUBT 🔥🔥🔥🔥🐐
GJGREGJO
362
I can't stand up alone like this against these Messi haters! What he has done to you to hate him! Did he crushed you Xbox controller or did he discard TOTY Ronaldo from you ULT team! Far more dis he gave quotation to kill someone in your family! No! Then why? He is small, he don't have a athletic body, but still with that he has done everything he can! #iwillstandformessi
pemero
338
the goat messi
sanyer_10
234
ronaldo fans are trying to claim that messi not loyal because he is getting money for staying and huge salary !! whats the problem with that ge didnt ask for that neither he forced them to do it club wanted him desperately so spend so much on him its not like club didnt have any choices and as for the huge payement, if you are generatiing X amount of money for the club and getting (1/3) of it whats the matter in that ?? why you all guyz are looking at only salary and domt judge by looking at only one part of the coin dont bring hatred in every situation this is my request to every football fans dont act childish and at the last messi has also deliber all the goals and assist and gave his 100% look at those too !!!
johntyler11
208
y'all criticising messi and painting him as the reason for barca bankruptcy, an honest question that deserve an honest answer, if it was revealed that messi earns 100million€ out of over 1.2 billion€ contribution to the club in just 3 years, what will be your reaction?... will you still put the same energy you're using to criticise him to criticise barca for using him that much? There's no doubt that the amount is really so big, but he clearly deserve every penny he got. you think it's easy to be messi, wait until he retires or leave barca then you'll have the answer you desperately desire. stop being blinded by the enormous amount, messi is a generous person, he once had the whole of Argentina non playing staff under his payroll, the contract wasn't forced on barca by messi, it was a willful contract by barca board and messi did accept it.
fouabrtz
189
I find it hilarious Argentina is jumping to Messi’s defense even though he hasn’t won the country anything note worthy. Not even the copa America! This has nothing to do with the Messi Ronaldo debate; say what you want but for someone to make about half a billion salary wise alone for playing football alone in just THREE years is absurd! It’s sad people are defending someone else’s money of which they won’t see a single red cent! It’s good it was leaked for the sport. It’s called fair play for a reason & that’s cheating. A humble guy willing to bankrupt a whole corporation for what?! Best or not how much is enough? This doesn’t even factor in his outside endeavors & or endorsements. I don’t know the man personally but this is ludicrous to say the least. How can people say this is ok?!? How can his teammates even stomach this? No one should be worth more than a system to the point it’s bankrupt. Greatest, not greatest, whatever; it’s sickening same as neymars trabsfer fees to psg. It’s ruining the game we love people wake up! If everyone using this app pooled every last cent they’ve ever had & Messi woke up with that money he’d contemplate suicide. Neurosurgeons don’t earn that kind of money, many billionaires acquired that money after decades or @ least five years or so of work but to claim you’re worth paying half a billion in three years of football as just your salary screams character flaw, personality issues, delusions of grandeur and then some in my humble opinion