Lionel Messi: “I had lowered my salary by 50%.”

February 22, 2020, Barcelona, BARCELONA, SPAIN: 22nd February 2020; Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; La Liga Football, Barcelona versus Eibar; Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona, Barca during La Liga match between Eibar at FC Barcelona at Camp Nou Stadium Soccer: Liga Iberdrola - Real Betis v Athletic Club - ZUMAa181 20200222_zaa_a181_116 Copyright: xMarcxGonzalezxAlomax

August 8, 2021

Speaking in his farewell press conference, Lionel Messi discussed his salary cut.

Lionel Messi on photo with PSG players

“They were saying ‘come to Paris, come to Paris’, but it’s a total coincidence that photo was taken with the PSG players in Ibiza on the same week as all of this.”

Salary cut

“I had lowered my salary by 50%. We agreed on that, and they (Barca) did not ask me for anything else after that. That 30% is a lie. We did everything we could. Many things have been said which are not true.”