For every player in the world there seems to be a price. For teams being purchased there’s always a price, much easier to calculate and put on paper. But for Lionel Messi? His value to Barcelona is immeasurable, and even when someone from the club has to put on a number on his value, it seems impossible to comprehend.
Cristiano Ronaldo was purchased for £80 million four years ago. Real Madrid and Tottenham are in discussions over Gareth Bale, with the figures revolving around €100 million, which seems impossible to understnad – why would Real Madrid be offering so much money, unless their sole purpose as a football club is setting transfer records instead of actually building a team that can succeed without these kind of signings coming in every summer, and why would Tottenham refuse such a deal, unless they know they can get out a bit more from Real Madrid for him.
Outside the usual realms of transfer rumors and speculation is Lionel Messi. A four-time Ballon d’Or winner, and the popular choice for best player in the world. He’s never linked to different teams, as Barcelona provide an aura of “untouchable” over him and most of their key players. We’ve never heard of Andres Iniesta or Xavi being in line for a mega deal, and Lionel Messi is no exception.
The talk of Barcelona trying to sign Thiago Silva has stirred up some feeling at PSG, which in return had its president “threaten” Barcelona by triggering Messi’s release clause at some point in the future, just for the fun of it.
Maybe all of that talk, plus the mentions of Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo as the most expensive footballers on earth have made Sanro Rosell “reveal his cards” when it comes to how much he values Messi, which is quite a lot.
Someone would have to pay €250 million to pay the LFP clause, plus the 56% we’d pay in taxes. This would be about €580 million.
In comparison, Fulham were recently purchased by Shahid Khan for £150-200 million; a team without any debts, with prime London property on the banks of the Thames where the historic Craven Cottage is built. It also means Cristiano Ronaldo, who may have just signed a new deal with Real Madrid (finally), needs to be multiplied six times and then some in order to match the value of Messi.