OLANREWAJU IBITOYE
The departure of Lionel Messi from Barcelona last Thursday was met with so many tongues wagging over his possible destination.
While some mentioned Sheikh Mansour’s Manchester City, who have been long term admirers of the Argentine, others tipped Roman Abrahamovic’s Chelsea and some others pointed in the direction of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi’s Paris Saint Germain, the latter eventually couped the extraordinaire.
There are varying angles as to the reason the Argentine departed the Catalan giants. Some feel he placed money before loyalty and feels his 555 million Euro contract over a period of four years is part of the reason the club is in huge debt and if he truly loves the club, he could have opted to play for free for a year at least to help his beloved club. This claim, in it’s entirety, according to some football analysts is staggering and ridiculous as it undermines his value as one of the biggest asset for the club. By the way, he already agreed to slash his wages by fifty per cent before negotiation broke down.
Some others feel mismanagement and irrational purchases of some players like Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele in recent time without any profit yielding structure in place could be another reason.
While addressing the Catalan media on Sunday, Messi broke down in tears and claimed he had no choice but to leave: “The club did not want to go into more debt.”
However, after rumours linking him to the French Giants Paris Saint Germain, he has finally signed his two-year deal, plus bonuses – with option for a third worth a basic salary of £29.6million a year,and that is before bonuses – performances, trophies and goal returnsare taken into consideration.
In a white round neck shirt with an inscription of “Ici c’est paris” – here is Paris, Messi, his wife – Antonella and their three children waved at his lionized fans from the balcony of Hotel Monceau where current team mate Gianluigi Donnarumma is currently staying till they get a home in the city.
With this kind of inscription on his shirt, does it mean he has been a long time secret admirer of PSG or it is just a purposeful act to make his new fans fall in love with him at first sight just like what we see in K-drama?
We take a critical look at what the completion of this deal means to PSG and how it will change the face of French League 1.
-Possibility of a first Champions League trophyaand continued dominance of French League 1
The couping of the six-time Balon d’Or winner provides PSG the possibility of winning a first Champions League trophy and will definitely increase their dominance of the league. Since August 2017, Lionel Messi scored 125 league goals in 138 appearances for Barcelona while Kylian Mbappe had 91 league goals in 109 appearances and Neymar has 56 league goals in 109 appearances. The league is not ready for the forseeable exploits of this trio as the new partnership might establish the whimsical appellation of the French League 1 being called “the Farmer’s League.”
Also, for most big chances created in the Champions League since the start of the 2016/17 season: Lionel Messi has 30, KylianMbappé with 29, Ángel Di María with 26 ant the Brazilian maestro Neymar has 24. This is another testament to the fact that PSG might possibly be landing their first Champions League trophy.
-More fans
According to stats available on bolavip.com: “over the last week (August 4 to August 11), the account gained 5.65 million of followers. However, by the time of writing this article, it has already gained 1.2 million more (6.85 million in total). Currently, PSG’s Instagram account has 44.2 million followers,” and more are still following.
-More money (strategic)
There are some unverifiable claims on Twitter that PSG sold about 250,000 Messi’s shirts in less than one hour. The price of the jersey is said to range between 115 euros and 158 euros.
Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser Al-Khelaifi claims the world will be “shocked” by the financial revenues generated by the club’s signing of Lionel Messi.
According to Marca, Messi increases the value of PSG’s fan token by 43 per cent. Fan tokens are a form of cryptocurrency that gives holders access to a variety of fan-related membership advantages like voting on club decisions, rewards, merchandise designs and unique experiences.
Also, according to figures made available to El Mundo, the second largest daily newspaper in Spain, Lionel Messi single-handedly made Barcelona’s 30 per cent of their total revenue, little wonder Josep Bartomeu did not want to let him go.
“Marc Ciria, a Barca socio, and CEO of Diagonal Investments found out how much money Messi brings in for Barcelona. He did this with the help of Josep Fabra, a financier, and Ivan Cabeza, an economist. The player made 383,655,000 euros over three years but generated 619,265,000 euros in the same time period. This means that the player has made the club a profit of 235,610,000 euros as at February when the publication was released.”
According to Ciria, Messi’s goal scoring abilities have made it very profitable to sponsor the club. It is instant recognition for the brand. However, there are two options for sponsors, one without the player and one including him. The Messi clause can bump the sponsorship total by 50 per cent.
The player also makes the club a ton of money through ticketing, VIP passes, and shirt sales. Ciria suggests that eight out of 10 Barcelona shirts carry his name.
-More viewership to the league and PSG
In a statement on Wednesday, Ligue 1 Chief Vincent Labrune, a former president of Marseille, celebrated Messi’s signing as a big win for French football.
“Messi’s arrival will bolster the attractiveness and visibility of our championship across continents,” Labrune said, thanking the club’s owners for creating what he called one of sport’s biggest global franchises.
The Argentine has joined Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi to bolster a star-studded Mauricio Pochettino’s squad this summer.