Connect with us

Lionel Messi Signs Two-Year Deal with PSG

Lionel Messi Signs Two-Year Deal with PSG

Credit: Unsplash

According to PSG’s president, Messi’s signing will bring home some serious bacon.

Last week, Lionel Messi, one of the most prolific soccer players in the entire world (and debatably the most prolific), surprised the world when he announced his departure from his longtime team, FC Barcelona. Due to changes in Spain’s financial laws, the team was no longer able to fully honor Messi’s five-year contract, prompting him to seek greener pastures. As it turns out, those greener pastures are with Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi signed a fresh two-year deal with PSG, with potential for a third if they gel well together. This deal will net Messi a $41 million annual salary, plus bonuses, as well as a $30 million signing fee. This isn’t a one-street, though; PSG estimates that Messi’s signing will generate exponentially greater revenues for the team. When asked for precise figures, PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi declined, but he added that people would be “shocked, honestly, at the numbers we have.”

“I just hope [Messi] will not ask for more salary,” he joked.

While Messi hasn’t actually played at all with PSG yet, he’s already driving merchandise sales. “They put 150,000 shirts on sale on their website last night at 10 p.m. U.K. time and they had sold out within seven minutes, so there are certainly opportunities from commercializing and monetizing the Messi name, and that will have allowed the club to have funded his salary,” Kieran Maguire, lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool, told CNBC.

As for Messi himself, he’s eager to get on the field and maintain his titanic winning streak. “I’m really looking forward to getting out there in the field, and my hopes of winning remain intact, and that is the reason why I am here,” Messi said at a press conference.

“I want to win another Champions League and I think I’m in the right place to do that.”

Continue Reading

More in OMG Sports

More Posts

Trending Now

Don’t Miss

Discover

To Top