The millionaire sum that Barcelona owes Lionel Messi for his contract with the club

Barcelona owes money to Lionel Messi (REUTERS / Gonzalo Fuentes)
Barcelona owes money to Lionel Messi (REUTERS / Gonzalo Fuentes)

The arrival of Lionel Messi to Paris generated a furor rarely seen in the history of football. It is that beyond the barrage of people who approached the airport on their arrival in the capital of France, or the crowd that gathered in the vicinity of the Princes Park For its official presentation, the economic machinery that launched the Argentine star’s landing at PSG is a parallel story.

In addition to the sale of shirts with the now famous number 30 that Leo will wear during his stay with Paris Saint Germain, the public has already started paying exorbitant amounts for a ticket to see the team of Mauricio Pochettino, even though the Rosario will not be part of the game because he has to condition his physique after a month of inactivity.

In front of this scenario in his new club, there is a fact that came to light in the last hours related to his already old team in which he spent more than two decades. As indicated by the Catalan sports newspaper Sport, Barcelona owes Messi about 52 million euros. The media indicated that said sum corresponds to the deferred salary that was agreed with the entire Culé squad during last season to alleviate the club’s coffers due to the economic blow that the coronavirus pandemic generated.

It is important to remember that once cases grew and Europe became the epicenter of COVID-19 cases, former president Josep Maria Bartomeu met with players to renegotiate existing contracts when competition came to a complete halt due to lockdown that was decreed in Spanish territory. Thus, the head of the institution agreed with the players that the payment would be made to them once the state of health emergency ended.

Catalan press reports indicate that This payment could be made between the remainder of 2021 and 2022. It is precisely the payment terms in which the lawyers of both parties are working to reach an agreement that is beneficial in each case.

Messi with his new number and his new shirt (PSG)
Messi with his new number and his new shirt (PSG)

A few days ago, once Messi’s departure from Barcelona was confirmed and his arrival at PSG made official, a study gave details of the money that the club presided over by Joan Laporta will lose today with the departure of the best player in his history.

As indicated Brand Finance, renowned consultant, the Blaugrana institution occupied a few months ago the podium of the most valuable clubs on the planet behind Real Madrid with a market value of about 1,266 million euros (1,485 million dollars). But of course, that will change abruptly before La Pulga’s goodbye. “It is expected that the departure of Messi will have direct negative effects on future income from sponsorship, merchandise sales and income from the days (of La Liga) of Barcelona,” established the firm.

In this context, he estimated that the value of the club could plummet by at least 11%, that is to say, about 137 million euros (USD 160.8 million). These will come in the first order of a fall in the commercial income of the Barcelona club, which would be reduced by 77 million euros (USD 90.37 million), and of the sales of shirts and other marketing products, with which it would stop enter 43 million euros (USD 50.47 million). The third concept by which Barcelona would lose money would be in the revenue per match day and the results on the pitch, with a fall of 17 million euros (USD 19.95 million).

While the economic future of Barça is bleak, the opposite occurs with the present of PSG, which has already announced that it will soon report on the arrival of new business partners who came after Messi’s signing. The same thing that has already started to happen with other parallel actors such as the resale of tickets for Ligue 1 matches.

Looking ahead to this Saturday’s duel against Racing Strasbourg, as indicated Le Parisien, there are fans who pay up to $ 5,000 for a place, which added to the reservation costs would amount to almost 6,000. This newspaper argues that the arrival of Messi has unleashed a madness in the French capital this week and that is also reflected in the tickets to access what will be the new home of the Argentine for the next two years.

The Argentine star has already started training at his new club (REUTERS / Pascal Rossignol)
The Argentine star has already started training at his new club (REUTERS / Pascal Rossignol)

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