Why We Made Messi Europe's Highest Paid Player

Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, has said they can afford Lionel Messi’s new contract, despite the club’s wage bill being above a recommended limit.

Messi will reportedly earn close to €565,000 (£500k/$645k) a week until June 2021, making him the highest-paid player in European football .

The Argentina captain is behind only compatriots Carlos Tevez and Ezequiel Lavezzi on the global stage.

Bartomeu hailed Messi as the best player in the world and says he deserves every penny the La Liga club pays him.

“It started several months ago when I told his father, Jorge, that we had to sit down,” he told Mundo Deportivo.

“Everyone knows Leo had a bad summer last year with the tax problem he suffered.

“We let some months pass so that the timing was balanced and then I told Jorge that we had to start talking about the renewal, and he told me to talk to his son.

“I talked to Leo and asked how he was, because of what had gone on. I told him we had to talk about the future. He replied: ‘I want to stay here. Talk to my dad.’ And that’s it.

“We can’t reveal how much Messi costs the club but he’s the best player in the world and he costs what the best player in the world and the history of football should. Nobody brings to their club what Leo Messi brings.

“The LFP and UEFA make recommendations but nobody sets a salary cap. We are above what is recommended but the important thing is to be sustainable. We can afford it.”

By Ifreke Inyang

Messi Becomes Europe's Highest Paid Player Ahead of Ronaldo

Lionel Messi is now the highest-paid footballer in Europe, after he penned a contract extension with Barcelona until 2021.

Details of his new deal, shows that the Argentina captain will now earn £500,000-a-week after tax at the Nou Camp.

Messi was earning £350,000-a-week, but the club offered him an increase of 37%, as they sought to tie the 30-year-old down.

The new agreement represents a huge pay rise, which takes him above Cristiano Ronaldo as the highest-paid player in Europe. Ronaldo signed a new contract with Real Madrid in November 2016 and earns £365,000-a-week terms.

Messi’s new contract also sees his release clause rising to a massive £350million.

He been at Barcelona since he was 13 and finished last season as La Liga’s top scorer with 37 goals in 34 games.

By Emmanuel Uzodinma

Lionel Messi Ties The Knot With Longtime Girlfriend [See Photos]

Lionel Messi and his longtime girlfriend, Antonella Roccuzzo, have now tied the nuptial knot.

Many of Messi’s football friends graced thewedding ceremony which held yesterday alongside their own wives.

Some of the biggest names in sports are on the guest list:

They include Messi’s old Barcelona teammates, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Eto’o and Cesc Fabregas.

Other footballers include: Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and many others.

By Chijioke Jannah

Messi Hails Ronaldo As One Of The Best Footballers In The World

Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi, has hailed Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the best footballers on the planet and insists there is no great rivalry between them.

The duo are often compared given their superstar status and positions with Spain’s two great rival clubs: Barcelona and Real Madrid.

But the two players have recently played down any talk of rivalry, Ronaldo recently claiming they enjoy “a very good relationship” and saying he enjoys watching the Argentine in action.

Messi has now returned the favour and praised the Portuguese’s desire to always improve.

“That thing about our rivalry is something more invented by the press than by us,” Messi said to Tencent Sports .

“What we want is to do our best every year, to do the best for our teams and what is spoken from outside is not something I give importance to.

“He is a phenomenal player who has many qualities that year after year he improves and that is why he is one of the best in the world.”

By Ifreke Inyang

Lionel Messi Signs News Contract With Barcelona

Lionel Messi has agreed in principle to a new deal at Barcelona, which will tie him to the La Liga club until 2021 or 2022.

Messi has only one year left on his current contract, but intends to continue under new manager Ernesto Valverde.

Spanish newspaper, Marca, reports that the 29-year-old’s pay packet will vary from year to year. With the agreement close, lawyers will draft up the contracts in the coming weeks.

Messi managed 54 goals in all competitions for Barcelona in just 52 games last season.

It was only enough for the Camp Nou side to win the Copa del Rey, as they were beaten to the league title by rivals Real Madrid and got eliminated from the Champions League by Juventus.

By Ifreke Inyang

JUST IN: Barca's Star Lionel Messi Wins Pichichi Trophy As League Highest Scorer

Lionel Messi has regained the Pichichi Trophy for the first time since 2012-13 by finishing as La Liga’s highest scorer.

The Argentine netted 37 times for Barcelona this season, claiming the award for a fourth time and finishing eight goals ahead of last term’s leading marksman Luis Suarez.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who has fallen behind his great rival in terms of the number of Pichichi titles he has won, came third, having struck 25 times.

All three players scored on the final day of the Liga season, with Messi's double earning Barcelona a 4-2 win over Eibar. He had missed a penalty before scoring from the spot and then produced a wonderful individual goal to round off the scoring in stoppage time.

Suarez had drawn Barca level at 2-2 after Eibar had taken a shock 2-0 lead at Camp Nou.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, opened the scoring inside the opening two minutes as Madrid eased to a 2-0 victory away to Malaga to wrap up the title.

Messi’s haul means that the winner of the prize has scored on average more than one goal per game in each of the last seven seasons, and his tally will likely be enough to also claim the European Golden Boot.

It is an award that he and Ronaldo have dominated for the best part of a decade, with Suarez last term the first player since Diego Forlan in 2008-09 to break the pair’s duopoly. 

With four wins to his credit, the 29-year-old Argentine has drawn level with Ferenc Puskas, the legendary Real Madrid striker, on four Pichichi crowns. However, he still trails Atletico and Real forward Hugo Sanchez, ex-Real Sociedad and Barca attacker Quini and the great Alfredo Di Stefano, all of whom have won the prize on five occasions. 

Telmo Zarra, who played for Athletic Bilbao in the 1940s and 50s, meanwhile, holds the outright record on six. 

The prize is scant consolation for Messi, with Real Madrid having claimed La Liga on the final day of the season at Malaga. 

Goal.com