Lionel Messi’s deal ‘set to cost Barcelona £ 492million when it runs out this summer’

Lionel Messi’s current contract will cost Barcelona 555m euros (£ 492m) when it ends this summer, El Mundo reported on Sunday.

The four-year deal was signed in 2017 and will end in June when the 33-year-old can leave for nothing.

El Mundo said the combination of the fixed salary, image rights, variables and the tax Barcelona had to pay on the contract would rise to € 555,237,619.

Lionel Messi’s Barcelona contract set to cost cash-strapped club £ 492million

The figure was revealed by Spanish newspaper El Mundo, describing Barcelona’s financial difficulties

Messi has been guaranteed € 138m (£ 122m) per season gross salary under the leaked contract.

The leak is likely to infuriate Messi’s camp and further destabilize Barcelona as the club stumble towards elections originally scheduled for last week but now postponed to March 7 due to the coronavirus.

It comes days after the club released their 2019-20 financial report which revealed gross debt of € 1.2bn (£ 1bn).

The 33-year-old is expected to leave the Nou camp for free this summer, ending a 17-year stint.

Catalans are in financial difficulty due to pandemic and have asked banks for help

The club tried to secure a loan of € 100m linked to the future sale of star players

This debt includes short-term debt of 720 million euros (638 million pounds sterling), of which 266 million euros (236 million pounds sterling) are owed to various banks and financial institutions and must be paid by the 30 June.

One of the creditors is Goldman Sachs, an important long-term financial partner in the € 800 million Camp Nou redevelopment project.

Catalan newspaper El Periodico reported last week that the club are trying to secure an additional € 100million (£ 89million) loan linked to the future sale of players.

Barcelona need to refinance their debts to avoid having to change the club’s structure, allowing private investors to inject money in exchange for some control.