After being heavily linked with his former club FC Barcelona and Saudi Arabia, seven times Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is on his way to playing in America after seeing through his contract with Ligue 1 Champions Paris Saint-Germain.
The 35-year-old’s contract with the French Champions is at the end. And, despite being heavily linked with clubs from Saudi Arabia, who have reportedly offered him humongous deals, Lionel Messi agreed to a deal with David Beckham’s Inter Miami CF. The details of the deal hadn’t been revealed, well, up until now.
How much did Lionel Messi make at PSG?
The 2022 World Cup-winning captain was already one of the world’s highest-paid soccer players during his time in the French capital. After joining Les Parisiens for free in 2021, the former Barcelona captain earns €41 million net per season in the French capital, which includes a percentage payment in cryptocurrencies.
There is a loyalty bonus in the contract as well. As opposed to Mbappé, who received €180 million to stay with the Parisians after signing a two-year contract, he received a signing bonus of only €30 million.
Forbes stated that Paris Saint-Germain had also given Lionel Messi a cut of his image rights and merchandise. Combining it all together, the 35-year-old Argentinian took home nearly €70 million per season.
Argentine’s whopping package with Inter Miami
Messi turned down a €500 million salary offer from the 18-time defending champions of the Saudi Pro League, Al-Hilal, this summer in favor of returning to more familiar territory. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is rumored to be earning a whopping €53 million annually. The salary doesn’t involve any remunerations he will receive from partners such as Apple, Adidas, or Fanatics.
With that kind of money, he can confidently expect to become Major League Soccer’s highest-paid player. Xherdan Shaqiri of the Chicago Fire made the previous record salary of €8 million. In fact, he will be making 14 times more money than his highest-paid teammate, Josef Martinez, who earns approximately €4 million at the club.
Source: Messi's compensation from @InterMiamiCF will be worth $50M-$60M per year (over 2.5 years). That includes signing bonus, annual salary and equity in the club. That doesn't include anything he'll get from @Apple, @adidas, @Fanatics or other partners.
More to come at @SBJ.
— Alex M. Silverman🏒⚽️ (@AlexMSilverman) June 19, 2023
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