LIONEL MESSI will be paid a fortune for his new venture in America – but he still will not earn as much as his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
The legend has confirmed he will join David Beckham’s Inter Miami this summer after a return to Barcelona collapsed.
AFPLionel Messi will pocket a fortune after signing for MLS side Inter Miami[/caption]
GettyHis salary will still be massively dwarfed by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr package[/caption]
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner will leave Paris Saint-Germain when his contract expires at the end of June.
Messi was also linked with a move to Saudi Arabia following the announcement of his PSG departure.
However, he didn’t want to join former Real Madrid foes Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the Saudi Pro League.
But despite turning down the potential billions on offer in the Middle East, Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain will pocket a WHOPPING salary in the States.
Although it comes nowhere near to the one Ronaldo is on at Al-Nassr.
His contract will allegedly rise to a mega $150m (£119.34m) over the course of his two-and-a-half year contract with the MLS side.
That equates to around £918k-a-week – and incredibly £90.70 A MINUTE!
Adidas, Apple and MLS were all also hoping to entice the Argentine to lucrative commercial proposals.
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
Adidas – one of the league’s largest corporate sponsors – have reportedly proposed a profit-sharing agreement, meaning the forward will receive a cut of any increase in profits resulting from his MLS involvement.
MLS and Apple have also considered offering Messi a share of the revenue generated by new subscribers to the MLS Season Pass, the league’s streaming package on Apple TV+.
In addition to these commercial proposals, MLS chiefs are understood to be willing to offer Messi the option to purchase a percentage of any team in the league upon his retirement.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo penned a £173m-a-year deal with Al-Nassr back in January.
The full deal is believed to run over seven years in total – with Ronaldo taking on an ambassadorial role once he hangs up his boots.
That means Ronaldo could pocket as much as £1.2BILLION over the course of the contract and that means he earns £5.50 per SECOND.
TRANSFER NEWS LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and confirmed switches from the world of football