Barcelona captain Lionel Messi is preparing to take legal action against the newspaper El Mundo according to RAC1. They this Sunday morning leaked details of the Argentine’s lucrative contract with the Catalan club.
The revelation comes at the end of a week that has seen Barcelona news dominated by talk around the club’s precarious financial situation, with much of the blame being laid at the door of the previous board led by Josep Maria Bartomeu. Barcelona, according to Samuel Marsden, have denied all involvement in the leak and are also prepared to take legal action against El Mundo.
The entire contract, including variables, amounts to a grand total of €555,237,619. According to the report, 92% of the variables stipulated in the contract have already been fulfilled, meaning that the total salary Messi has earned is €511,540,545.
The fixed salary, or the minimum amount of money the Argentine was scheduled to earn, was €245,314,080. Some of the most eye-catching variables include a €14,194,576 bonus for winning the Champions League, a bonus of between €9,463,064 and €4,731,532 for winning the league and a bonus of between €2,365,768 and €591,552 for winning the Ballon d’Or.
Messi also earned a renewal premium of €97,941,250 and a loyalty premium of €66,240,462, as well as a fixed image contract of €43,290,720. The timing of the release of the contract is curious given it comes at a time when Messi’s future is undecided.
Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are keenly interested in securing his services when he becomes a free agent this summer, and the Argentine is said to be furious at the leak and preparing to announce a decision on his future in the coming days.