Cost-benefit weighs in favour of Messi at PSG

Barcelona could not afford to keep Lionel Messi but Paris Saint-Germain have made their move for the 34-year-old and, while the cost of the deal may be astronomical, it is still likely to be a very smart bit of business.

Barca, swimming in debt of 1.2 billion euros, ultimately found themselves in a no-win situation with their talisman.

An annual salary north of 70 million euros net per season, while breaking Spanish league salary cap requirements, was a price that made sense for Barcelona.

Marc Ciria, director general of Diagonal Inversiones consultancy, recently calculated Messi generated some 235 million euros more than he earned over the past four years.

Qatari-owned PSG, who bought Neymar from Barcelona for 222 million euros in 2017, can afford the Argentinian wizard, who they see as the final piece in the jigsaw to land a first Champions League crown.

Messi, who had agreed to a 50 percent wage cut with Barcelona, is reputedly being offered some 40 million euros a year over two seasons in Paris with the possibility of a third.

Messi, nicknamed “La Pulga”, boosts overall annual earnings to around 110 million euros thanks to lucrative sponsorships with the likes of Pepsi and Adidas.

Although the pandemic knocked a 125 million-euro dent in PSG’s finances across 2019-20 alone, the club’s ownership by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) means their pockets are deep enough to close a deal. The recent relaxation of UEFA’s financial fair play rules because of the pandemic helps too.

“That leaves more margin than previously,” says Christophe Lepetit, director of France’s Centre for the Law and Economics of Sport in Limoges.

“Messi is a cast-iron guarantee. From the moment you recruit him you have a number of additional revenue streams which flow almost automatically: derivative merchandise, ticketing, partnerships. It’s an unmissable opportunity.”

A further plus compared with the 400 million euros shelled out in 2017 to buy Neymar and Kylian Mbappe is the fact PSG don’t have to pay a transfer fee for the out-of-contract Messi.

For Caillet, Messi will lift PSG to even greater heights on and off the pitch. “A second stage was needed for the PSG rocket. Messi will bring an acceleration,” says Caillet.

“It seems paradoxical given his age -- but Messi incarnates PSG’s future both economically and in sporting terms,” says Caillet as “his arrival brings together three iconic brands -- Paris, Jordan (PSG’s kit manufacturer) and Messi.”