What’s Lionel Messi Worth? One Calculation Says $175 Million

Fans purchase about 2 million Messi jerseys each year
Barcelona expected to try to collect $825 million transfer fee

Lionel Messi of Barcelona avoids Angel Correa of Atletico Madrid during the Supercopa de Espana semifinal at King Abdullah Sports City on January 9, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

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By Brandon Kochkodin

August 27, 2020 at 6:26 PM UTC

Lionel Messi is breaking up with Barcelona, and the numbers are huge.

Any club looking to bring on the all-time soccer great will have to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars for his salary. And that’s not counting the $825 million transfer fee FC Barcelona contends it’s owed -- although Messi’s camp believes the fee no longer applies.