Within the magnitude of the figures of Messi's contract with Barça signed at the end of 2017 and which the newspaper revealed The world There are a series of clauses, bonuses and extras that draw attention within the world of specialists in this type of contract.
Variable clauses in professional contracts for athletes are common, but in Messi's case attracts attention.
For example, Bartomeu signed Messi a loyalty clause of 66,249 462 euros that the Argentine must collect when he leaves Barça as a reward for his stay at the club. This amount was included by contract after both Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta charged a (much lower) amount when they decided to leave the Blaugrana club to go one to Qatar and the other to Japan.
It also highlights the clause of the bonus for matches played by the Argentine. If he plays 60% of the games, he receives 1,168,964 as extra. The curious thing is that in the case of Messi it is considered a “game played” that in which he has played at least 45 minutes when in other cases of the same squad they are counted for 60 minutes. Further, those in which the player cannot play due to an injury will be counted as a match played.
The independence clause is also very striking. Taking into account that the contract was signed between November and December 2017, two months after the referendum on October 1, and that the political situation in Catalonia was very uncertain, Barcelona and Messi agreed that in the event of independence, the player could unilaterally leave the club.
All this after having signed a renewal premium of € 97,941,250. These types of bonuses are common, but Messi's triples the one paid to Neymar (30 million) just before the Brazilian left for PSG.
Another of the unusual points of the contract is in which it is detailed that Barcelona will continue to pay the contract to Messi in the event that the footballer declares in absentia with his team or is sanctioned by FIFA. That is to say, if what happened to Luis Suárez with Uruguay after biting Chiellini and being sanctioned happened to him, this suspension would not lead to financial loss for the player.
In the Champions League, Messi also secures money for participating and going round. Just for qualifying for the Champions League, he receives € 1,656,034 per season. In the event that Barça beat Paris Saint-Germain in the second round, Messi will charge € 1,419,458. In the case of winning the final, the prize for Messi would be € 3,548,644. The Cup, on the other hand, is valued ‘only’ at € 104,372.
Shock with the news
The publication of the figures of Messi's contract has caused a huge commotion in Barcelona. First of all, because this publication comes in the middle of the electoral campaign and with a very tense social environment in the entity. From within Barcelona, led by a manager, it is not valued for the moment to make any official assessment of this information, although they recognize that this scenario does not favor the tranquility of the entity.
For his part, from Messi's surroundings they remain silent although they do not hide their discomfort at the publication of a document that could only have four parts. One is the club, the other is the player's part (from which nothing has emerged), the third is the law firm that drafted the contract and the fourth is LaLiga.
Orfeo Suárez, head of sports of The world and one of the authors of the information stated in The Supplement from Catalunya Ràdio that “Without being able to cite the sources as is obvious, what I can assure you is that this contract has not come to us from LaLiga.”