Simon Jordan has been left ‘staggered’ by the figures behind Lionel Messi’s mammoth wages at Barcelona, branding them ‘absurd’ for someone who has not discovered a cure for the global coronavirus pandemic.
And he has sent a warning to Manchester City that they will only inherit the Spanish giants’ financial woes if they bring the Argentine great to the Premier League.
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Details of Messi’s incredible contract at Barcelona were leaked in the Spanish press over the weekend, revealing his extraordinary HALF A BILLION euro deal at the Nou Camp.
Messi’s €555,237,619 four-year deal sees the maestro paid €138million in wages and bonuses, features a €78m loyalty bonus and also includes a clause that saw him paid an extra €115m just to renew his contract at the Catalan club in 2017.
The leak follows news that Barcelona are more than €1billion in debt due to a lack of income surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
It appears, on the face of it, Messi’s contract is responsible for half of that and it is claimed his contract details were leaked – which Barca have begun legal action against – on purpose in a bid to get the forward out of the club.
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And talkSPORT pundit Jordan, while unsurprised by the numbers in the reports, says it puts a huge question mark of the state of football’s finances that one player can be worth so much.
“Maybe I’m a miserable old bugger, but I look at those numbers and think: ‘Leave me alone’,” the former Crystal Palace owner told talkSPORT host Jim White.
“You’re going to pay a footballer this kind of money? He hasn’t provided a solution for the coronavirus vaccine, he’s kicking a football around!
“It’s absurd but it goes with the territory. The amount of revenue Messi will have brought to Barcelona around the world from their digital imagery, to their merchandise opportunities and their sponsors, would have been balanced off against the salary we are seeing here.
“So Barcelona are prepared to pay him this money because of the economic value he brings to them, he must be worth it to them, but that doesn’t alter the fact that it’s staggering amounts of money for a footballer.”
Manchester City have been widely linked as a possible destination for Messi should he call time on the long and celebrated career at Barcelona, with the superstar out of contract in the summer.
Former City ace Trevor Sinclair even believes his old club are preparing to bring the Argentine to the Etihad Stadium as we speak after signing several new sponsorship deals to bring new money into the club’s coffers.
“I have noticed recently that there have been quite a few new sponsorships acquired,” he told talkSPORT. “And I wonder, is this a build-up to them balancing the books to finance that move in the summer, and the wages that will come with it?”
Lionel Messi's Barcelona contract in numbers
€555,237,619 – Total worth of contract signed in 2016.
€511m – Amount he’s earned so far with five months to run on the deal.
€138m – Guaranteed gross salary per season.
€115m – ‘Renewal fee’ for renewing his contract in 2017.
€79m – Annual ‘loyalty’ bonus for staying at Barcelona.
€3.5m – Bonus if Barcelona win Champions League (which they haven’t done since 2015).
€1.9m – For playing 60 per cent of Barcelona’s games.
€695,748 – For winning FIFA’s Best Player award during the 2018-19 campaign.
But Jordan has warned the Premier League giants how signing Messi, as huge a deal it would be for English football, could backfire.
“The problem with Lionel Messi’s wages is if it were Man City signing him it would have an exponential effect on everyone else’s salary,” added the pundit.
“Everyone else in that dressing room won’t expect to be on £500,000-a-week, but they will expect that the bar will be raised and it will drag everybody up economically.
“That’s where the challenge comes when you get a player on that kind of money.
“And it’s not only a problem for City, either, it would be for the whole of UK football. You’d have every other player in the Premier League going: ‘Hang on a second, I’m underpaid!’”
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