Messi Transfer Is a Big Opportunity for Barcelona
The Argentine megastar’s mega wages have inflated salaries throughout the club. His departure would allow a reset.
An all-time great, but a soaring expense.
Photographer: Alex Caparros/Getty Images EuropeLosing Lionel Messi needn’t be a catastrophe for F.C. Barcelona. It may be an opportunity.
The Catalan soccer team is — by revenue — the richest sports club in the world, wealthier even than the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. But Messi’s reported annual salary of 71 million euros ($84 million) has a distorting effect on Barca’s cost structure, allowing other (worse) players to seek comparable pay, and dragging overall costs up. The club last year reported net profit representing just 0.5% of its 837 million euros in sales. The exit of Messi, who submitted a transfer request this week, should let it reset salary expectations and allocate its capital more efficiently.