The world of soccer is mostly dominated by players outside of the United States. The biggest star in the world right now is Lionel Messi. The Argentina star is on the verge of becoming the greatest player in soccer history. His contract with Barcelona is one of the biggest in all of sports.
Here is a look at Messi’s net worth and how he got there.
Lionel Messi’s Net Worth as of 2019: $220 million
2003-2004
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After many years playing at the junior level, Messi finally makes it to the first team for Barcelona at just 16 years old. While he was young, Messi proved early on that he was going to be a star from the first day he stepped on the pitch. Others in the game knew from an early age that he was going to be one of the special players.
2005
(Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
Messi signs his first contract as a senior team player which would make him a Barcelona player through 2010 including a buyout clause of 150 million euros. This contract would make it hard for any team to sign him anyway but Inter Milan tried anyway which forced Barcelona to get Messi a new contract through 2014 and another raise.
2008
(Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Messi signs another new contract worth 7.8 million euros and becomes the club’s highest-paid player in the process. At just 22 years old, Messi continued his assault on the top player in all of professional soccer. While the contract doesn’t look the biggest, it is still a massive amount from the soccer perspective.
2014
(Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
As his contract came up again in 2014, Messi would become the highest-paid player in the sport’s history with a salary of 20 million euros or 36 million before taxes were taken out. It was a huge total that still is tops in the whole sport.
2015-2017
(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Messi makes $73.8 million in 2015 according to Forbes with $51,800,000 coming from salary and winnings while $22 million more came from sponsorship deal which include Adidas, Pepsi, Dolce & Gabbana and AirEuropa.
While Messi is still low on the net worth list in regards to some other athletes, he is going to continue making tens of millions of dollars each year he remains on the field and even after he does retire at some point. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if Messi is worth nearly $1 billion sooner than later.
2018
Continuing the splendid run at the end of last year, Argentine sensation Lionel Messi looks forward to winning the treble with Barcelona this season.
2019
Lionel Messi’s second place in international goals scored was overtaken by Indian footballer Sunil Chhetri, captain of the Indian football team.
