Not even in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he would play for a club as reputable as FC Barcelona or end up as one of it’s highest paid players ever when he debuted for them as a mere 17 year old in October 2004.
But 15 years on, Lionel Messi has not only lived his dream, he has worked his way to a level where he can be chased around with a contract by a club with no history of pampering players!
Barcelona are known for their high level of intolerance to under-performing players and coaching staff, and have been known for the alacrity with which they off-loaded them once there’s a perception of dwindling returns on their investments.
But even as erratic as the club’s top hierarchy has been in the area of hiring and firing over the years, they have been known to make clear exceptions to that rule in the case of Lionel Messi, a man who has won for them many laurels, recognitions and accolades.
In 15 years, the diminutive playmaker has done more for Barcelona than 10 players in the same position had done for the club in a decade before his arrival!
With 34 trophies, which includes 10 La Liga titles, 6 Copa del Reys, 4 UEFA Champions Leagues and sundry other titles like the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup, Messi is the player the Blaugrana would do anything to keep!
His track record of performance which originates from his immense talents, consistency, hardwork, passion and creativity has shot Messi to a level of near indispensability, with the club almost always feeling the impact when he is not on the pitch.
For this reason, Barcelona have continued to pay, and pay heavily! Since 2008, Messi has been the club’s highest paid player as his salaries keep hitting the 8digit figures. The Argentine superstar had reportedly been the first to break the €40million a year salary benchmark for a footballer when he grossed €41million in salaries alone in 2013, and an incredible €65million in 2014.
By 2015, Messi was almost hitting twice that sum in yearly take-home if you added the endorsements. Influential Forbes magazine, listed him second, behind rival, Cristiano Ronaldo as world’s highest paid athlete with income of $81.4million from salaries and endorsements in 2015.
In 2018, the Argentine forward became the first player again to exceed the €100million benchmark for a calendar year with earnings of €126 million ($154million) in combined income from salaries, bonuses and endorsements.
And by 2019, there was no stopping Messi as he climbed to the top of Forbes’ yearly rich athletes ratings, upstaging the legendary Floyd Mayweather Jr. who had been number one the previous year.
If Messi’s initial €7.8million yearly take-home for 2008 was thought to be big, the astronomical boost it earned in later years has been eye-popping! For instance, Messi’s salaries shot to €13million from 2009 for the next four years.
By the time he signed an improved deal in 2017, his wages hit all-time high with an estimated take-home of $667,000 a week. And wait for this, Barcelona had to pay him an additional $59.6million as a signing-on bonus!
Now, he is being chased around for another improved deal that could keep him at the Catalan giants for another two years; by which time he would be 34. According to reports, Messi’s father, Jorge who acts as his agent is currently in discussions with Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu in a deal that could see the 32 year pocketing a mouth-watering pay-packet of £83.2million a year, with a total weekly pay of £1.6million!
The deal which terminates in 2022, with an option of another two-year extension, if consummated, will make Messi the highest earning footballer on the planet, outside endorsements.
The coronavirus pandemic which affected football early in the year largely accounted for Messi’s third-place finish in this Forbes’ ratings but his new contract is guaranteed to launch him to new heights next season, barring any last-minute manoueverings by his eternal rival, Cristiano Ronaldo who was second behind tennis star, Roger Federer for 2020.
Messi makes £175,000 a week on image rights from his sponsors, Adidas, Pepsi, Komani, Gillette, Dolce and Gabbana, Audemars Piguet, Turkish Airlines, Ooredoo and Tata Motors.
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