Success is costly. FC Barcelona realized that during its association with Lionel Messi. Barca’s deal with Messi, which ended in June 2021, was reported to be the highest-valued sports contract ever. Come 2024, 16-year-old Lamine Yamal is bringing back the memories of the Messi era with his rising valuation in the transfer market, thanks to his vital equalizer goal against France in the Euro semifinal last week. It helped Spain secure the final spot while making Yamal the youngest scorer in the history of championships. But victory is not the only thing that Yamal brought for Blaugrana.

Lamine Yamal brought the marketable face that financial struggle-riddled Barca badly needed in the Post-Messi era. So, they not only offered Yamal a contract but also set clauses in such a way that made snatching away their rising star difficult. Let us find out what Barca devised and what the contract brings to Yamal.

Lamine Yamal’s net worth and salary explored

Already dubbed as “Messinho or Mini Messi”, Lamine Yamal was trained at La Mesia, FC Barcelona’s youth academy, just like Messi. Yamal joined Barcelona in October 2023 on a three-year deal. According to a report by Sportsbrief, Yamal rakes up $1.79 million in annual base salary for the 2024-2025 Season. The right winger boasts a guaranteed salary of $5.3 million. It also provides him with $451,476 as a bonus. The contract expires on June 30, 2026.

Courtesy of Yamal’s enormous salary at Barcelona and other endorsements, his net worth is widely estimated between $2 million and $3 million. As per Isfootball, Yamal’s financial assets are valued at $2.4 million. Meanwhile, CAknowledge estimates his financial assets at $3 million. Besides, the 16-year-old’s market value stands at $97 million. But the staggering buyout clause of the contract probably overshadows everything else.

According to reports, a release clause worth a whopping $1.07 billion glues to Yamal’s contract. This means any club trying to poach the winger before his contract expires should pay Barcelona a little over a billion! And there is good reason for such a measure. In March, Marca reported that Paris Saint Germain (PSG) had offered Barca $218 million for Yamal. Later on, club President Joan Laporta confirmed the news.

“We have offers for players like Lamine Yamal worth €200 million, and we have said no. Because we trust in the boy, in his sporting projection, and we don’t have the need [to accept],” Laporta had said. This tug-of-war partly explains Yamal’s rising transfer value. In April, CIES Football Observatory released a list of “the world’s top 100 players who have not yet turned 23 and whose transfer value has increased the most over the last six months.”

Yamal topped the list with an increase of over $146 million. He was quite some distance away from his nearest competitor, Benfica’s Joao Neves, finishing in second place with an increase of $78.2 million. So it can be safely said that Barca at the moment has the most valuable young player in the world. But, the hefty figures might make one recall the debacle, Barca went into, for their huge spending on Messi.

In 2021, Spanish news outlet El Mundo revealed the value of the contract Messi inked with the Catalans in 2017, which was his last with the club. It claimed the value was just under $674 million over four years (roughly $168.5M per season). It also featured a staggering renewal fee (the fee to just accept the offer) of roughly $140M and around $94.6M of loyalty bonus.

Back then, it was estimated that Messi was earning 15 times more than NHL star Alexander Ovechkin, and five times more NBA superstar LeBron James. It had caused quite a backlash asking if it made sense considering the financial slump of the club. One more clause of that contract was surprisingly similar to that of Yamal’s.

Barca had placed a blistering €700 million ($835 million) transfer fee for the 8x Ballon d’Or winner. However, the measure backfired, since the huge amount made his buyout difficult and Messi walked away for free at the end of his contract in 2021.

But in 2023, President Laporta confirmed that the Catalan club was still paying money to Messi. This was the money it owed from the last contract Messi had with Barcelona. This will continue till 2025, as per Laporta. While we do not know if Barca will invite a similar situation with Yamal, the youngster has more in parallel to Messi.

Which company does the Barcelona teenager endorse?

Previously, Lamine Yamal has endorsed Nike, also Barcelona’s kit sponsor, since he broke through the club’s ranks. However, Nike faced a tug-of-war from fellow sporting giants Puma, Adidas, and New Balance to ink a deal with Yamal. Eventually, Adidas won the race for the Blaugrana teenager’s signature and in February, the sportswear giant confirmed the deal. As per various sources and fan pages, Yamal and Adidas’ 10-year deal is worth $34million. Interestingly, it had a very clear Messi touch to it.

“I am proud to join adidas as they have always been the brand of the best. Growing up, I idolized Leo Messi who has been with adidas since I first started watching football. I look forward to the many years ahead with adidas,” Yamal had said after inking the deal. Even Adidas also made their thoughts about Yamal amply clear.

In its official release, Adidas said, “To kick off the partnership in a personal style, Lamine will wear the adidas X Crazyfast Leo Messi ‘Spark Gen10s’ in both European and Domestic competition, the only player besides Leo Messi himself to do so.” In fact, a video clip that was released by the company while announcing the deal also subtly teased Yamal’s Messi connection.

It showed Yamal sitting on his bed donning Adidas gear, and smiling at the camera. An alarm clock next to him beeps, displaying the time “3:04”. It is a reference to the area code (304) of Rocafonda, where Yamal grew up. Astonishingly, Yamal is seen tying up Messi’s boots and is then running onto a football pitch. Evidently, Adidas wanted to project Yamal the way they did Messi back in 2006.

Like Yamal, Messi was also just out of the Barcelona academy. Adidas roped him in for reportedly around $500,000 per year. At that time, 19-year-old Messi hadn’t yet played a full season of professional football. But Adidas took a chance. Rest is history. 18 years later, the Brand has taken a chance again. It remains to be seen if history repeats itself this time also!