Lamie Yamal to become Barcelona’s highest paid player – reports

Lamie Yamal could become Barcelona’s highest paid player if certain clauses in his new contract are reached.

After months of speculation, the catalan giants finally officially tied their 17-year-old starlet down to a long-term deal. Barcelona were so eager to secure the future of their Ballon d’Or contender that they couldn’t wait for his 18th birthday, handing Yamal a contract which stretches to 2031 on Tuesday evening and if the deal materialises the player will be the club’s highest paid.

The young footballer has been handed an annual net salary of €40 million ($45.3 million) once all bonuses and his signing-on fee are taken into consideration, The Athletic report. Yamal’s base salary is thought to be around €30 million ($34 million) – roughly the equivalent of $325,000 per week after tax—which reportedly represents a 10-fold increase on his wage for this season.

This will be a kind of compensation from a contract signed back in October 2023 which had made him one of the club’s lowest-paid first-team players. According to The Athletic’s estimations, figures such as Fermín López, Eric García and Andreas Christensen were better paid than arguably one of the best winger on the planet.

Barcelona’s prolific striker Robert Lewandowski was thought to be the club’s leading earner, with a pre-tax yearly haul of €36 million ($40.8 million). Now he banks roughly the same salary as a player less than half his age. When Yamal was born, Lewandowski was already top scorer in Poland’s third division.

For Spain’s treble winners, this hefty outlay for Yamal is worth every cent. The braces-clad forward has directly contributed to 39 goals in 55 games across all competitions this term. Lionel Messi didn’t hit those figures until he had turned 21.

“He’s not a kid,” the German coach enthused at the end of a triumphant campaign,” Hansi Flick has made no secret of his admiration for the teen phenom.

“He’s doing good. He has the confidence, the self-confidence, the belief in what he can do. Also, he’s very clever. He’s also now set to be very wealthy.”