Barcelona set Lamine Yamal wage limit to avoid repeat of Lionel Messi crisis

There’s no stopping Lamine Yamal from reaching the heights of football stardom, but Barcelona are planning to limit the teenager’s financial rewards to avoid the mistakes made in the past, according to a report in Spain.

The 17-year-old winger may still wear braces and has only recently moved out of the club’s academy accommodation, but he is already regarded as one of the best in the world in his position. Halfway through the current campaign, Yamal has already surpassed his personal numbers in terms of goals and assists from last season.

Such staggering statistics, which fail to capture the jaw-dropping flicks and blood-soaked shimmies that punctuate every performance, have unsurprisingly prompted talk of a contract renewal for Yamal.

The Spain international has already confirmed his intention to sign a new deal, as his current deal is set to expire in June 2026. However, Barcelona are believed to have put a cap on any salary offer they make. As,

“You can’t give a 17-year-old 15 million euros because at 23 he could ask for double that,” a Barcelona source told the Spanish publication.

Lamin Yamal

Lamine Yamal is one of Barcelona’s best players, but is nowhere close to being the club’s top earner – at the moment / Alex Caparros/GettyImages

Yamal is reportedly one of Barcelona’s lowest earners, earning €1.7m a year after signing his current deal in October 2023, having made just ten first-team appearances. Barcelona’s highest-paid player, Robert Lewandowski, earns around €33m per year (over €540,000-per-week), while Frenkie de Jong, Ansu Fati and Jules Kounde also take home between €15m and €20m .

While Barcelona are well aware that Yamal deserves to become the team’s top earner “sooner or later”, they have been burnt out by bombarding left-footed talents with endless contract renewals.

Lionel Messi and his agent-father Jorge notoriously brokered a new deal on an almost annual basis during his Barcelona career. Ultimately, the club could not renew his final contract in the summer of 2021, leading to Messi’s tearful departure from the Camp Nou.

This season, Barcelona have had to appeal to the Spanish government to find space in the budget for Dani Olmo’s wages.

The Catalan giants have already rejected nine-figure offers for Yamal and have no intention of losing their prodigious forward in the same embarrassing sequence of circumstances endured by Messi.

Read the latest Barcelona news, transfer rumors and gossip

Leave a Comment