555,237,619 euros • More than half a billion euros • No matter how we write it, Leo Messi's contract numbers are just insane • It comes at a time when the arrows of criticism of the Barcelona management are being fired at her from every direction, and the question arises: Did anyone deliberately leak the details?
Leo Messi
Photography:
AFP
No one had any doubt that Lao Messi is making a fortune in Barcelona, the team he has played all his life and in the media has broken every possible record.
But it has now been revealed how much capital it is.
Over the weekend, El Mundo newspaper revealed the numbers when it leaked the contract the Argentine signed in 2017, and it was impossible to remain indifferent in the face of this.
555,237,619 euros.
This is the insane amount that Messi has received - and will receive - in the last four years from salaries, bonuses and other items, and this is the amount that the newspaper claims has led to Barcelona's great economic crisis.
"This is a replica contract of Messi, who is destroying Barcelona," cried the headline that accompanied the exposure, and now everyone is trying to figure out who is trying to destroy whom and why.
As much as the exposure is bombastic, it's not really news.
Already in 2018, a copy of the copy in question was leaked in "Football Leaks" and "Der Spiegel", including the monstrous numbers and inflated clauses, but that publication made much less noise.
Barcelona of those days functioned well on the pitch and in the bank account, and Messi even more so.
The difference, of course, is the timing.
The current publicity comes at a very sensitive time for Barcelona - economically, politically, professionally - and so for Messi, who, as we recall, threatened to leave the team in the summer.
These contract details - 33 detailed pages - are accessible to very few people in the club, so it is quite clear that whoever leaked them to the media did so with the first intention and clear purpose - to hurt the player and present him as a greedy man who led the team to doom.
These sums are insane, no doubt, but the feeling is that there is an unfair attempt here to drop the whole case on Messi.
The Argentine reportedly earns the club around € 300 million a year from ticket sales, merchandise and so on, not to mention the titles and achievements he has brought to the team.
Beyond that, during his time, very expensive deals were made in Barcelona that were unsuccessful at best and totally collapsed at worst, and they also played a large part in the club's economic collapse.
Although the amounts earned by taxes are excessive, it can easily be argued that they make sense.
In contrast, it is impossible to address Barça's financial crisis without pointing the finger of blame at its management and conduct in recent years.
"We have no responsibility for these publications," Barcelona was quick to clarify in an official statement denying involvement in the leak, "We express full support for Messi, especially when an attempt is made to damage his image and damage his relationship with management."
Messi, who has always been anxious about his privacy and especially the economic one, is very hurt and is now considering his steps.
On the advice of his lawyers, he will file a lawsuit against the newspaper, and at the same time try to understand who is responsible for the leak and sue them as well.
According to reports, this is former President Joseph Bartomeu and his men.
Anyway, this affair adds another oil to the bonfire called Barcelona.
Given that the presidential election will only take place in early March, it will be interesting to see where this story can go further.