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Barcelona recorded a narrow 2-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in their most recent fixture to go second on the La Liga table.
Speaking to journalists after the game, Antoine Griezmann was asked about Lionel Messi's salary but the Frenchman was having none of it.
The 29-year-old gave a brisk reply, asking:
“What kind of question is this?”
He went on to state the usefulness of the Barcelona skipper to the club.
“We enjoy Messi, and he is a legend without a doubt.”
The world had been shocked by the revelation of Lionel Messi's real salary with Barcelona.
The deal had been signed as his last extension in 2017, and details revealed by El Mundo show that the Argentina international is on a humongous package that sees him take home €138 million every year.
This is way higher than the official wage package that was announced when the deal was signed, and it has understandably caused a lot of furor in the sporting world.
Causing further consternation is the fact that Barcelona are currently in a financial crisis, with debts totaling over €1.2 billion.
Presidential elections were due in January and offered hope that a new man at the helm could help steady the ship. However, complications owing to the COVID-19 pandemic saw the election date pushed further ahead.
It is not far-fetched to suggest that Barcelona are in crisis, and on-field performances have hardly helped ease tensions.
How will the Lionel Messi salary leak affect Barcelona in the future?
According to reports, there were only four copies of Lionel Messi's contract available. One was with the player himself, another with his lawyer, another with the league board, and the final with Barcelona.
At this point, it is anybody's guess how El Mundo got wind of the actual contract itself, but common sense dictates that most fingers are pointing to the club itself.
This will not be the first time that Barcelona have been embroiled in something like this. With the club having been accused of hiring a PR agency in the past to tarnish the image of perceived enemies of Josep Bartomeu, including Pep Guardiola and Messi himself.
In many ways, detractors see this as a final act of sabotage from a sinking crew to deflect the blame of the club's current malaise to the foot of the Rosario native.
However, it is pertinent to note that Lionel Messi is the single most important reason behind the transformation of Barcelona into the second-most valuable sporting brand in the world.
Placing the blame for the club's financial woes at his feet will be doing his immense contributions on and off the field a massive disservice.
Barcelona have been guilty of profligate spending in the last few years, with over €1 billion spent on player transfers since 2014 to very little ROI.
At this stage, it is all but certain that Messi will leave Camp Nou. This latest farce only serves as further proof that his future is best served by ending his two-decade association with the Catalans.
However, it represents an ugly divorce to what could have been the greatest farewell in the history of the game.
