Barcelona is still required to pay money to Lionel Messi despite him no longer being a player of the club. This is because of the terms agreed upon in Messi's final contract with Barcelona. The agreement was reached during the tenure of former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu in 2017. The contract was for a duration of four years, and Messi eventually reached the end of his contract and joined PSG as a free agent in the summer of 2021.
According to El Mundo, Messi was set to earn up to €138 million per season under the terms of that contract, including fixed wages and potential bonuses. A portion of this amount still needs to be paid because Messi agreed to defer his wages to support the club during its financial difficulties. Even two years after leaving Camp Nou, Barcelona is fulfilling its obligation and paying Messi the amount he is entitled to.
The specific details of how much Messi agreed to defer and how much is still pending are not known. The agreement for the deferred payments was reached in 2020 when former president Bartomeu called for the entire team to collaborate and support the club during the financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in matches being played without spectators.
For Barcelona, the suspension of football activities during the pandemic has had serious consequences as the club has one of the highest wage bills in Europe and heavily relies on generating substantial revenues to operate. Some Barcelona players agreed to wage reductions, while others accepted deferred payments. In some cases, players agreed to both.
It's important to note that the money owed by Barcelona to Messi and his future career at Inter Miami in the United States are separate matters. During the past two years while representing PSG, Messi has continued to receive deferred payments from Barcelona without any impact. This is simply an obligation that Barcelona must fulfill as per the terms of the contract.
