LIONEL MESSI has overtaken NFL star Patrick Mahomes to become the sportsman with the most-lucrative contract.
The Argentine superstar, 33, recently had his incredible contract details leaked by Spanish outlet El Mundo.
Lionel Messi has the most-lucrative contract in all of sport – miles ahead of second-placed Patrick Mahomes
Messi is miles ahead of any other sportsman in terms of total wages for the duration of his current contract
And the details left jaws on the floor and eyeballs popping out of their sockets across the globe as it blew all other sporting deals out of the water.
American Football ace Patrick Mahomes – who will star in this weekend’s Super Bowl – had previously led the way.
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, 25, put pen to paper on a TEN-YEAR deal in the summer of 2020.
All in all, Mahomes stands to earn a staggering £329million in the next decade, with his base salary slowly increasing as his career goes on.
In 2021, Mahomes is expected to rake in £16.7m, but in the final year of his contract he will pocket an astounding £38.4m.
On average, the quarterback will take home an annual salary of £32.9m.
Mahomes was also offered a £7.2m bonus at the time of signing his new contract.
The NFL star will also rake in £1.5m in guaranteed loyalty bonuses each year until 2024.
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On top of that, Mahomes will command a £450,000 annual workout bonus until the end of his contract.
Meanwhile, Messi will rake in an astonishing £492m between the summer of 2017 and June 2021.
That means, the Barcelona icon is taking home an other-worldly £123m per season – a massive £90m more per season than Mahomes.
It was also revealed Messi earns a £69m ‘loyalty fee’ each season on top of his base rate, while being handed a staggering £109m signing-on fee.
It’s also been revealed the wing wizard will receive a £35m pay-day even if he QUITS the club this summer.
Messi also beats Mahomes in terms of endorsement deals.
The Argentine has bumper contracts with the likes of adidas, Gatorade, Huawei, Mastercard, Pepsi and Budweiser for an annual income of £23m.
Mahomes has deals with adidas, Oakley, DirecTV, State Farm and a number of other US brands, raking in a combined annual fee of £5m.
Messi also earns more per Instagram post, thanks to his 181m followers – dwarfing Mahomes 4.2m fans on the social media site.
Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta slams PSG for Messi transfer pursuit
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
