Lionel Messi and Barcelona will take legal action against the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, after publishing on Sunday the disclosed details of the striker’s record contract.
El Mundo has published documents on Messi’s four-year agreement, signed in 2017, and presented a complex breakdown of the 555 million euros it would receive if all the supplements were met. The report claimed that Messi’s contract is the largest ever signed by an athlete.
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Sources confirmed to ESPN that Messi will take action against El Mundo and any Barca staff involved in leaking the contract. There are only four copies of the contract – Messi has one, Barca has another, La Liga has a copy and so does Cuatrecasas, the law firm used by the Argentine international.
Meanwhile, Barca responded by denying any involvement in leaking the contract and said they would also take “appropriate legal action” against the newspaper.
“Given the information published today by El Mundo, in connection with the professional contract signed between FC Barcelona and the player Lionel Messi, the club regrets its publication given that it is a private document governed by the principle of confidentiality between the parties,” the Catalan club said. a statement.
“FC Barcelona categorically denies any responsibility for the publication of this document and will take appropriate legal action against the newspaper El Mundo, for any damage that may be caused as a result of this publication.
“FC Barcelona expresses its absolute support for Lionel Messi, especially in the face of any attempt to discredit his image and damage his relationship with the entity in which he worked to become the best player in the world and in the history of football.”
According to El Mundo, Messi would receive a maximum of 555,237,619 euros ($ 673,919,105) for four seasons, if a series of conditions were met.
Including image rights, the report explains that Messi received a renewal bonus of EUR 115 million and a loyalty bonus of EUR 77 million divided into two payments – as ESPN revealed in November.
It is also said that Messi earns about 72 million euros a year, in addition to supplements for playing over 60% of games during a season, the progression of the Champions League, winning La Liga or Copa del Rey and winning the most good FIFA.
Some of these complementary performance-related programs have not been met and it should also be noted that Messi accepted a pay cut when the coronavirus pandemic first affected football last March.
Therefore, he will not win the total amount of EUR 555 million entered in the contract, which expires on 30 June.
Messi’s future beyond that remains unknown. He tried to leave the club last summer, but was imprisoned by then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
In a recent interview, he explained that he has not yet made a decision on his future and will decide the next step when the season ends.
Since pressing to leave, Bartomeu has left the Camp Nou and a new president will be elected on March 7. All three presidential candidates – Joan Laporta, Victor Font and Toni Friexa – have expressed their desire to keep Messi at the club.
However, negotiations on a new agreement will not be able to start until March, and the new conditions will have to correspond to the club’s new financial position.
The club’s annual accounts, from August 2020, revealed earlier this month that the Catalan club’s gross debt has risen to almost 1.2 billion euros.