FC Barcelona will continue to pay former star Lionel Messi “religiously” until 2025, according to club president Joan Laporta in an interview with La Vanguardia.
After the Catalans failed to offer him a new contract that would have permitted them to successfully break the barriers of financial fair play, Messi famously left Barca in tears in 2021.
But according to details reportedly leaked to El Mundo, his deal, which ended on June 30 of the same year, was the highest-paid sporting contract ever.
Messi reportedly agreed to get €555,237,619 ($604.2m) over the course of 4 seasons if he meets a number of conditions.
SPORTS reported in August 2021 that Barca still owed the Argentine 52 million euros ($56.6 million), which Barca is battered and heavily indebted to and which they plan to pay him in full by 2022. This was shortly after he left for Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.
As Laporta disclosed in late July 2023, more than 2 years after Messi last wore the legendary Blaugrana jersey ’10,’ Barcelona still have outstanding payments with the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner ‘until 2025’.
La Vanguardia questioned Laporta about if Barca still owes their most important player any money. He said that the unpaid wages are deferred wages that were agreed upon with the board of his predecessor Josep Bartomeu, which foresees “pending payments until the year 2025”. “He’s paid religiously,” Laporta added.