Barcelona drops shocking hint that they could sell Lionel Messi as he wants to be highest paid footballer on earth

Barcelona FC of Spain have dropped a shocking hint that they could sell Lionel Messi, after the player's agent revealed to them that the 29 year old wants to be the highest paid footballer on the planet with his new contract. Barca stars Luis Suarez and Neymar recently signed new deals with the club worth around £21m-a-year but Messi who recently rejected a new Barca deal has told his agents he wants to earn higher than Cristiano Ronaldo (£500k per week total package) and Carlos Tevez (£615,000-a-week).

Barcelona club directors have revealed that they might offload the player to the highest bidder, as their limited financial resources coupled with large debts means they might not be able to afford the player's wage demands.

Barca are nearing the 70% limit that La Liga place on clubs for expenditure on wages and Messi's contract expires in 18 months.

We want the best players but perhaps we have to prioritise,’ said Barcelona director Oscar Grau.

‘We have to make the numbers add up. One option is to increase our revenues, as our economic strategy forecasts. ‘The club wants the best player in the world to stay at Barca. I would like to ease the concerns of club members and supporters but we have to use common sense.’