The Argentine star signed a new contract at Barcelona in November.
Lionel Messi pockets in the region of €2m (£1.78m) a week with his astonishingly lucrative new contract at Barcelona, according to a new report by
Football Leaks.
Messi ended growing speculation over his long-term future in November when he put pen to paper on a new deal that keeps him at the Camp Nou until 2021. While it was widely assumed that the new contract was possibly the most lucrative in the history of the sport, the specific financial details that have emerged confirm that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner earns around €100m (£88.8m) a year.
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The 30-year-old forward will earn €71m (£63.1m) in annual wages under the new contract, with the rest coming from image rights. It's approximately twice what Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo earns.
There are other significant incentives written into the contract, including a €70m (£62.2m) bonus for Messi if he stays at Barca for the entire duration of his contract. In addition to that, his buy-out clause stands at an astronomical €700m (£622m).
In another striking revelation, Football Leaks' report, published in the German magazine
Der Spiegel, claims that Barcelona increased Messi's salary after Real Madrid made an audacious attempt to sign him back in 2013.
According to the outlet, Madrid were willing to spend €250m (£222m) to bring Messi to the Bernabeu in a deal that would have seen him earn around €400,000 (£355,000) a week. Madrid eventually signed Tottenham's Gareth Bale that same summer.
