Lionel Messi is trapped at Barcelona by financial fair play
Big club’s profits are significantly reduced due to the pandemic.
In order to get an idea if a massive football club can acquire the services of Lionel Messi, its crucial to look at their balance sheets.
Three large teams are in the running for the Argentine scoring machine, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City
In the fiscal year 2018-19, City reported a profit of €11.3 million, Bayern €49 million, and MUFC €55.8 million.
These clubs have not officially submitted reports for the fiscal year 2019-20, but the Red Devils’ most recent quarterly report provides a clue of the extent of the financial damage of the shutdown of football in the spring.
United posted a profit for the first three quarters of the fiscal year of €14.9 million, a reduction of around 74% from the previous year. If the same financial dynamics played out with MCFC and the Bavarians, their profits in 2020 would be down to €3.0 million and €13.1 million, respectively.
There have been numerous reports that have suggested that if any of these clubs sign Lionel Messi that there would be a financial windfall as a result of additional merchandising (e.g., jersey sales) and commercial advertising money.
In the current financial environment, these possible monetary gains are dubious at best. For example, teams (if they are lucky) reap up to 15% of the cash from jersey sales.
Financial Fair Play regulations, as stated, place a cap of fiscal losses for teams in the Champions League of €30 million over a three-year cycle.
Any deal for Messi would cost United, City, and FC Bayern close to and estimated €173 million, which would push all three into losses that shatter the FFP cap.
Even if the cost of signing the Barcelona runaway was just his current salary of €61 million, these clubs still run the risk of UEFA regulators dressed as characters from Men In Black from knocking on their door.
Manchester City, the most likely landing spot for Lionel from a sporting standpoint, knows all about FFP investigations.
Is this fair to one of the best footballers of all time?