Nine Footballers Have A Bigger Release Clause Than Lionel Messi

There may be no other player on the planet who would command the transfer fee Lionel Messi would, should Barcelona ever decide to part with the Argentinean genius, but that doesn't mean the five time Ballon d'Or winner is the most valued player in the game today. At least as far as release clauses go, anyway.

Barcelona's number 10 currently has a minimum fee release clause of £267 million, which isn't too much more (in the grand scheme of things) than what Paris Saint-Germain parted with when they matched Neymar's £198 million release clause, this past summer.

However, there are still nine players who hold bigger release clauses within their contracts than Messi, and eight of them are currently plying their trade for Barcelona's most loathed rival, Real Madrid.

Lionel Messi

Your's, for only £267 million. Image: PA

Top of the pile, unsurprisingly, is Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the owner of a staggering £886 million release clause, that is also matched by Karim Benzema, who recently inked a new deal at the Bernabeu.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates

Benzema

Ronaldo and Benzema - A Bargain at £886 million each. Images: PA

Behind the forward duo, Isco is valued at £620 million by Los Blancos, as is Marco Asensio, while former Tottenham pair Gareth Bale and Luka Modric could set potential buyers back as much as £443 million. As indeed could German international Toni Kroos and summer arrival Dani Ceballos.

Rounding out the list before we reach Messi is one of the Argentine's Barcelona teammates, Ousmane Dembele, who arrived at the Camp Nou in a £135 million deal from Borussia Dortmund, during the summer transfer window. The 20-year-old French winger has a £354 million clause written into his contract.

Ousmane Dembele

The £135 million man would cost potential buyers considerably more than that now he's a Barcelona player. Image: PA

There have been rumours that Messi will indeed renew his current deal at the Camp Nou in the coming months, with a vastly increased release clause being one of the alterations that will be made.

Will it be enough to keep PSG from snooping around next summer, though?

(H/T The Mirror)

Topics: Football News, FC Barcelona, Football, Lionel Messi, La Liga

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

@JoeBaia