W/Cup windfall: Messi yielding Barcelona £2.8k-a-day in Qatar
Barcelona will continue to profit from Lionel Messi’s departure in summer 2021, with the Blaugrana set to receive a share of the £8,130-per-day fee FIFA pay clubs for stars to compete at World Cup.
Messi may have left the Nou Camp in 2021, but the money clubs receive from FIFA will be split between any club the player has featured for since 2020.
The Argentinian national hero has been the player of the tournament so far according to Antoine Griezmann, and team-mate Emiliano Martinez is even calling for him to continue to lead the side at the 2026 tournament as well.
FIFA are bound to compensate teams for each day of player participation as a result of an agreement with the European Clubs Association (ECA).
As a result of the agreement, cash-strapped Barca are set for around £2,800 of the former skipper’s daily fee, according to Mundo Deportivo calculations.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has however announced that Qatar will be his final World Cup appearance, but he will be hoping to go one better than his runners-up medal from Brazil 2014.
In total, Barca are set to receive only £3.3million from players competing in Qatar, after the majority of their current players fell short of their nation’s expectations ahead of the competition.
In comparison, Manchester City are due for a £4.5m payment from FIFA, with 16 players in action, with Manchester United and Chelsea coming in for £2.9m and £2.46m respectively.
Bitter rivals Real Madrid are expected to collect a marginally greater fee – approximately £3.63m – and will have Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga in the showpiece final on Sunday.
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The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is not the only former Barca star to make the final, with Griezmann facing off against him for France on Sunday, alongside current Blaugrana defender Jules Kounde and winger Ousmane Dembele.
No other Barca star made the semi-finals, with the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay and Raphinha reaching only the quarters with Holland and Brazil and Robert Lewandowski bowing out at the round of 16.
The club also had seven stars knocked out with Spain after a penalty shootout defeat by Morocco in the first knockout round, including the likes of young stars Pedri, Gavi and Ansu Fati as well as Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.