Over the course of Lionel Messi’s illustrious career, it was always a given that the FC Barcelona star was well-compensated for his talents.
There has never been a better time to be quite possibly the greatest player in history on one of the world’s richest clubs. You could assume Messi was paid along the lines of the world’s top athletes, like Patrick Mahomes, LeBron James and Mike Trout.
Thanks to a leak via Spanish newspaper El Mundo, we now know you would be wrong to assume that. Very wrong.
In reality, Messi’s reported income blows every known athlete salary out of the water, even the half-billion dollar contract Mahomes received last year and was widely reported to be a record in the sports industry.