Paris Saint-Germain have recorded football’s highest-ever wage bill with the signing of Lionel Messi and others last season pushing their outlay to an eye-watering £643million per year.
There was a 45 per cent leap in the French club’s wage expenditure after they signed Messi, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi and others at the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign.
Messi reportedly earned £25.6m last season, with his salary added to other big earners at the club including Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
The signing of Lionel Messi led to Paris Saint-Germain registering football’s highest wage bill
PSG unveil their new signings (left to right) Achraf Hakimi, Georginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi ahead of the 2021-22 campaign
Messi’s salary was added to those of high earners Neymar (left) and Kylian Mbappe (right)
Football Benchmark’s European Champions Report 2023 says PSG’s wage bill for 2021-22, the most recent figures available, is the highest figure ever registered by a football club.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, PSG’s enormous wage bill led them to record a £326m loss in their latest financial figures.
Back in September, PSG were handed a £56m fine by UEFA, of which £9m had to be paid in full, for a breach of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Barcelona feature heavily in the highest wage bill list when they had Lionel Messi in their team
Messi, 35, has just inspired Argentina to World Cup glory and has just returned to Paris
The remaining balance is dependent on the club meeting FFP targets over the coming years.
As was pointed out on Twitter, the PSG figure dwarfs the previous highest wage bill in football – which was the £478m outlay at Barcelona, whom Messi then played for, in 2019.
The third-highest was also Barcelona, in 2018, when they paid their players £466m.
PSG’s 2021-22 wage bill is considerably higher than any other ever seen in football
Indeed, Barcelona feature five times in the top eight on the all-time wage list – and all from the last five years.
But PSG’s desperate quest to win the Champions League for the first time has led them to spend more and more on wages for their stars.
Spanish defender Ramos signed for PSG after leaving Real Madrid in the summer of 2021 and it was reported he was taking home around £440,000 a month after tax.
Hakimi, who signed from Inter Milan for £51m in July 2021, also increased the wage bill. Other signings that summer included the goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.
The Football Benchmark report said PSG’s staff costs to revenue ratio was 109 per cent last season.
The report says: ‘Paris Saint-Germain registered the highest staff costs growth amongst major European champions [+45 per cent year on year], reaching a record figure of EUR 728m (£643m), the highest ever reported by a football club.
‘The summer signings of Lionel Messi, Achraf Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, among others, are the main drivers behind this increase.’
PSG’s president Nasser Al Khelaifi welcomes Messi to the Parc des Prince in August 2021
Just under a year later, Al Khelaifi poses with Mbappe after the striker agreed a new contract
Real Madrid registered a high wage bill last season but won the Champions League again
In the summer of 2022, PSG once again spent big on the likes of Vitinha and Nuno Mendes but it was the new Mbappe contract that once again ramped up their expenditure.
Real Madrid’s 2021-22 wage bill also features prominently on the list, rising by 28 per cent to £458m and is the fourth-highest of all time.
But the Spanish club’s high wage bill at least led to Champions League success last season, while PSG – who came closest when they lost the 2020 final to Bayern Munich – are still waiting.
Source: dailymail
