Barcelona to sue after Messi’s gigantic salary was revealed – VG

Messi’s contract with Barcelona has been leaked and revealed in the newspaper El Mundo this weekend. Total value: NOK 5.7 billion over four years. Both the star, his people and the club are furious.

El Mundo presents facsimiles of what will be the contract with the god of Argentine soccer.

– We will take legal action against El Mundo, the club writes in a statement. Messi does the same, according to the Catalan rac1.cat, without anything official coming out of his people.

El Mundo writes that the contract consists of 30 pages, where Messi makes a total of more than 555 million euros, which is equivalent to 5.7 billion crowns at the current exchange rate.

This corresponds to NOK 3.9 million per day. Or 163,000 kronor per hour if you prefer.

Per season, he earns 138 million euros, which is equivalent to 1,400 million crowns. The contract was signed in November 2017 and lasts until the summer of 2021.

Messi received, according to El Mundo, 1,200 million crowns for signing and receives about 800 million crowns in “loyalty bonus” during the term of the contract.

In comparison, the 32 clubs in the Eliteserien and OBOS league have a turnover of around 2 billion NOK a year.

On social media, there are many who suggest that information about Messi’s contract may have been leaked from the club itself, to put the player in a bad position. Barcelona writes in its statement:

– 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 team in which he has worked to become the best player in the world and in the history of football.

The revelation comes at the worst possible time for the club, which is in financial crisis.

La Vanguardia recently revealed that Barcelona’s debt has reached an incredible 900 million euros, which is equivalent to approximately 9,300 million Norwegian crowns. Worst of all: Almost half, 420 million euros, are short-term debt. Sport and El Mundo write that the debt is even higher: NOK 12 billion.

This summer, Messi wanted to leave Barcelona after a dispute with the club’s management. After threatening to sue the club to leave a year before the contract expired, he still ended up at the club he has been at since arriving in Europe when he was 13 years old.

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In an official statement, Barcelona does not deny the details of the agreement that El Mundo has revealed, and instead confirms that it will sue El Mundo. They also dissociate themselves from accusations that they are trying to discredit Messi at a time when the economic crisis is affecting the club.

The title on the entire cover In the newspaper was “Messi’s giant contract that has ruined Barcelona”:

– The club apologizes for the publication of a private document that is confidential, it is stated in the club’s statement.

Messi scored his 650th goal for Barcelona this weekend. The Argentine newspaper Olé He celebrated it by creating a cover very similar to the one El Mundo did, with the difference that the amount of billions of salaries was replaced by the number of goals, scorers and matches:

Coach Ronald Koeman also commented on the revelation after Sunday’s win against Athletic Bilbao:

– I don’t understand how anyone can connect Messi with the financial crisis at Barça. He has done great things for this club and helped them win many important trophies.

– Those who published this had bad intentions and wanted to harm Barça. But we must be united and focused and forget about everything that has been published.

Koeman was clear that if someone at FC Barcelona has leaked the information, it means fired:

– If it was someone from the club, he can’t have a future here.

Former club president Joan Laporta has also come to support Messi:

– Messi brings Barcelona more income than it costs him in salary, Laporta said this Monday according to rac1.cat.

– It generates a third of the total income of the club, said Laporta, who also affirmed that Messi, deep down, wants to stay at the Camp Nou.

– But he wants to play in a competitive Barcelona.

The club’s interim president, Carlos Tusquets, said in December that Barcelona should have financially seized the opportunity to sell Messi last summer, when they could pay something for him.

– Both in terms of saving the salary payment and the transfer fee, it would have been the best, Tusquets said in an interview with rac1.cat.

Rumors of where Lionel Messi will end up next season continue in the Spanish media and in other countries. Manchester City is the most mentioned club, but Paris Saint-Germain is also an option.

But then there’s the question of Messi’s salary demands …