Lionel Messi is the most overpaid footballer in the world

When you are arguably the greatest player to have ever graced the game, you expect to be paid a handsome amount of money right?

Lionel Messi’s latest contract with Barcelona will see him earn a staggering 550,000 euros per week. But when you consider the present climate in which modern footballers earn obscene amounts in wages, Messi’s figure becomes quite understandable.

But a recent study conducted by the IJCSS, based on salary data and performance analysis has concluded that Lionel Messi is the most overpaid footballer in the world today!

Taking 2016 as a base year, variables such as age, position, club and a whole host of attribute evaluations in key areas were collected and run through an algorithm, which was designed to determine each player’s ‘real’ worth.

“Clearly, the salary of a football player is affected by numerous factors that are not directly related to performance or skills. For instance, a player liked by the fans can have higher compensation to reflect merchandise and ticket sales,” the report concludes.

“For instance, a player such as Lionel Messi receives a weekly wage of €550,000 given that part of it is sponsorship, merchandise sales, image rights, and other incomes outside the scope of wins or performance on the field.

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“Using pattern recognition, Messi’s predicted salary computed based on the performance and wages of the current football players in the major football leagues would have been about 50% less, although according to the method he would still be the world’s highest paid player.”

Angel Di Maria and Robin Van Persie are the second and third most over paid players, according to the study.

It is also interesting to note that Harry Kane and Bernardo Silva are the two most underpaid footballers today.