Lionel Messi's contract situation has been a long-running saga at Barcelona, with returning president Joan Laporta finally offering the Nou Camp icon a new deal recently.
However, as it stands, the 33-year-old could still leave the club for free in the summer, which will have alerted the biggest clubs across the continent to his availability.
Until then, though, the Argentina international will be playing on his current deal, which isn't too bad itself. According a leak released Spanish publication El Mundo, Messi is earning a whopping $673,919,105 (£487,479,385) over the whole of his four-year contract if all conditions are met.
American lending company Titlemax has taken this number, and compared it with the top-earning US athletes. It turns out that on a per-match basis, Messi is wiping the floor with the basketball, baseball, and American Football stars.
On This Day in 2019, Lionel Messi scored a brace against Manchester United in the UCL quarter-finals. Two magical goals.pic.twitter.com/sAQhLE6CC5
- TM (@TotalLeoMessi) April 16, 2021
The Barcelona captain brings in $3,743,995 (£2,707,975) for every match that he plays in, while next on the list is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes with $2,619,791 (£1,894,856).
While Messi hasn't been breaking quite as many records as he ages on that hefty wage packet in recent seasons, the forward still has a healthy 23 goals and eight assists in 28 La Liga appearances this season.
The compilation of goals Messi didn't score is probably as good as the compilation of goals he did#LLL
- La Liga Lowdown :flag_es::soccer: (@LaLigaLowdown) April 16, 2021
:flag_es::soccer:pic.twitter.com/DZcIRzRhVz
His performances, as always, have been key for the Blaugrana, with manager Ronald Koeman surely thankful to his star player for digging the team out of the terrible form they started the campaign in.
However, is he really worth this much cash?
Topics: American Football, Football News, Basketball, Baseball, Football, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, NBA, NFL
- TikToker makes 'US soccer team' comprised of other sports stars, LeBron James is the goalkeeper
- Lionel Messi's match-worn shirt vs Angers sells at auction for record fee
- Lionel Messi's final words uttered before winning penalty for Argentina in World Cup final have been revealed
- Lionel Messi tops the list of the top paid athletes for 2022
.png)
