Which Club Can Afford $825m To Free Lionel Messi From Barcelona?

After the dismal season and countless rumours around Messi’s attitudes, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner finally spoke it out. Reportedly due to the recent meetings with Ronald Koeman, Leo Messi decided to leave Barcelona after 16 years, nearly half his lifetime to date.

$850 million for Barcelona to release Messi?

In fact, Messi is allowed to leave the club whenever he wants as stated in the contract without the compensation fees but it’s not easy for any club to become the new home of this superstar.

According to Messi’s contract that was signed in 2017 and expires in 2021, the buyout clause was put at a price of €700 million or $825 million. Even without any add-up fees for leaving before the expiry date, the amount is challenging for most football clubs in the world. Having said that, paying a whopping $825m to own one of the greatest player of all time is the dream of any team if they can afford.

One thing to take into account, the coronavirus pandemic is hitting football clubs hard while there remains little time for the contract to expire and Barcelona won’t get anything after that. Given these factors, the team managers may have to reduce a little bit to seek the new home for the Argentine player. However, the exact number won’t be published soon, at least till the buyers give their offers.

Which club could afford Messi buyout fees?

Before any movement from Barcelona and the superstar regarding the transfer fees, let’s look through potential clubs who can accommodate Messi after leaving his long-time club.

We won’t mention clubs that want Messi, we just list those capable of paying that amount to Barcelona for Messi release before his contract expires. There are just a few names then.

Manchester City

The very first name that comes to our mind is Man City where Pep Guardiola is working as a manager. Pep Guardiola used to work with Leo at Camp Nou and the two got on very well with each other. It’s even claimed that Guardiola regarded Messi as his son and vice versa.

Manchester City’s value is estimated at $2.7 billion (Forbes 2020), making it top 3 richest football clubs in the world who can afford Messi’s buyout price.

There are also leaked information that Messi has contacted Pep Guardiola to find him a new home. The club is also willing to welcome the football star to its team.

Inter Milan

Another club that is always eager about bringing Messi home is Inter Milan. Its former director Massimo Mirabelli has suggested it’s very likely Inter will negotiate to buy the superstar, confirming that having Messi was ‘more than a dream for Inter.’

Inter Milan is also among top 20 most valuable football clubs in 2020, with a total net worth of $583 million. Despite its limited budget compared to some other top gamers, Inter is extremely interested in adding Messi to the team.

Paris Saint-Germain

No doubt, PSG stands among No.1 options for Leo Messi, where the currently most expensive player is working. Having Leo Messi playing along with Neymar would definitely make Paris Saint-Germain the most formidable football club in every competition.

Ranking 11^th in the world’s richest football clubs with $1.1 billion total value, PSG possibly thinks of asking Messi to relocate in France.

In fact, there are some other rich names that are able to afford Messi such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea or even Juventus but these clubs haven’t shown any intention to buy the superstar.

Meanwhile, Ronald Koeman is still finding ways to convince Messi to stay with Barcelona. As the club said in 2017, they wanted Leo to retire in Barcelona.

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