Exploring the mammoth contracts and wages at FC Barcelona 

If you think that your friend who just got the new iPhone is well-paid, just take a look at the guys over at Barcelona. According to the Global Sports Salaries Survey (GSSS), the Catalan club has regained its status as the best-paid team in all of global sport.

At Barcelona, the average annual first-team pay is now £10,454,259, which is just above 10 million pounds. This is the first time any team has ever crossed that threshold. Real Madrid is second on the list, followed by NBA franchises like the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Washington Wizards and the Golden State Warriors.

Barca, who are £3.6 million up from last year's total, is also the first team who are handing out a weekly first-team wage average of more than £200,000; the number stands at £201,043 as of now. (The 23 players considered in the first team for this purpose are the ones Barcelona portray thus on their website.)

A big chunk of this money goes to Lionel Messi, and understandably so. The Argentinian superstar has been in the first team for 14 seasons now, and the bumper contract he signed last November will see that the number stretches to 17.

Messi's gross basic pre-tax annual pay is more than £50 million, which includes guaranteed image rights fees. Aside from this, there are variable monetary gains for Messi, like signing-on fee, loyalty payments, appearance money, and performance bonuses which are not included in these calculations. All this had made Messi the highest paid footballer in the world.

Barcelona's linchpin has been tied down at the Camp Nou till the end of the 2020-21 season, and any club trying to pry him away will have to pay a release clause of €700m.

Aside from Messi, numerous other players at the club boast of mammoth contracts. Gerard Pique signed a contract extension to 2022 in January 2018 with a buyout clause of €500m, which was followed by Sergi Roberto doing the same.

Pique's release clause is €500m

World Cup winner Samuel Umtiti penned a new contract in 2018 as well, with a release clause of €500m. Veteran Sergio Busquets and new arrivals like Philippe Coutinho, Arthur, and Malcolm have punctured the Barcelona treasury heavily as well.

Jordi Alba is one of the rare key players who is not committed long-term, but the left-back is also expected to sign a new contract soon. His current deal ends in 2020 with a €150 million release clause.

Now bear in mind, the astronomical number of £10m as the average wage is just for the first team. Aside from this, the hierarchy at Camp Nou has to handle the finances of other players, staff, as well as equipment, architecture and what not.

The players obviously form a major part of the whole amount, but at such a big organisation, there are sure to be a lot of people to be paid. According to GSSS, the total first-team pay would be around half of the total wage bill of the club.

Simply put, Barcelona pays a lot of money to their players. Well as long as the success on the pitch follows, which has been the case in recent years, all should be well.