LIONEL MESSI’s exit hit Barcelona hearts hard – but to make matter worse, he’s still hitting them in the pocket.
Despite the Argentine mega-star leaving for Paris Saint-Germain, the Catalan giants still have to pay him a £33million LOYALTY BONUS, according to Football Espana.
Espana claim that Barca will still have to hand Messi the eye-watering sum which was part of his staggering £contract
Paying the whopping figure could prove a serious problem for the LaLiga giants, Espana report.
Its no secret that the club are facing a financial crisis at the moment.
And their lack of funds is the reason that they had to let the 34-year-old leave in the first place.
Barca’s president Joan Laporta had even claimed that Messi wanted to stay but they couldn’t afford his wages even if he took a pay cut.
In the end, Laporta said their prized asset had to leave to secure the club’s future.
Messi spoke of his desire to stay before his exit, saying: “I’m really sad because I didn’t want to leave this club.
“I love Barcelona and I wanted to stay, my contract was ready.”
“I did everything in my possibility to stay.”
And now Barca’s all-time top-scorer, with an incredible 672 goals in 778 appearances has gone on to join ex-Nou Camp team-mate Neymar in Paris.
