September 26, 2009
Lionel Messi has (finally) renewed his contract with FC Barcelona, signing on with the club until 2016.
The Argentinian striker will receive $15.4 million (10.5 million euros) per season, and any club wishing to purchase him before his contract ends will have to pay roughly $367.6 million (250 million euros) to buy out his contract.
Good lord, that is a lot of money. Granted, he’s one of the best strikers in the world, so he definitely deserves to money for what he produces on the field. Pele, one of soccer’s former greats, recently said that he’d like to give Messi the FIFA World Player of the Year Award, but the source of that is unconfirmed.
Nevertheless, Messi becomes the best-paid player at Camp Nou, and when his contract runs out will have played with the club for 15 years. He entered the youth leagues of FC Barcelona at 13 when they offered to pay for the medical treatment required for his growth-hormone problem.
I’m glad to see Messi is staying at Barcelona- he always talks about how he is so indebted to them because of the medical treatment they provided him as a child, and he really fits in with the playing style. Barcelona is all about playing and creating opportunities for whoever has one, and Messi is one the least selfish players I know.
His time at Barcelona has not, and will not, be ill-spent.
