Barcelona deny leaking Lionel Messi contract details to El Mundo with ‘£492m deal set to ruin Barcelona’

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi will take legal action against Spanish newspaper El Mundo after financial details of his lucrative contract were leaked in Sunday’s edition.

Rumours about the financial difficulties faced by the Catalan club came to light earlier this week, with reports suggesting they have debts adding up to more than €1BILLION.

It was El Mundo who claimed the club are ‘on the verge of bankruptcy’, with much of the blame being laid at the door of the former board led by Josep Maria Bartomeu.

And Barca on Sunday denied leaking details of Mess’s contract to the newspaper, with a statement confirming the club will also take legal action against the publication.

The statement read: “FC Barcelona categorically denies any responsibility for the publication of this document, and will take appropriate legal action against the newspaper El Mundo, for any damage that may be caused as a result of this publication.”

As per the leak to El Mundo, Messi’s entire contract, including variables, amounts to a grand total of €555,237,619 (£491,732,285.73) over four years. According to the report, 92% of the variables stipulated in the contract – which was signed in 2017 -have already been fulfilled, meaning that the total salary Messi has earned is €511,540,545 (£453,033,066.98).

The fixed salary, or the minimum amount of money the Argentine was scheduled to earn, was €245,314,080 (£2172,56,268.58).

Some of the most eye-catching variables include a €14,194,576 (£12,571,070.59) bonus for winning the Champions League, a bonus of between €9,463,064 (£8,380,725.53) and €4,731,532 (£4,190,362.77) for winning the league

The 33-year-old could also earn a bonus of between €2,365,768 (£2,095,183.15) and €591,552 (£523,893.21) for winning another Ballon d’Or.

Messi also earned a renewal premium of €97,941,250 (£86,739,214.13) and a loyalty premium of €66,240,462 (£58,664,205.51), as well as a fixed image contract of €43,290,720 (£38,339,341.51).

El Mundo published the information under a headline which said Messi’s contract will ‘ruin Barcelona’, with the Argentine understood to be the highest paid athlete ever.

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner will be out of contract in the summer, with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City reportedly interested in securing his services.