Lionel Messi jersey sales helped PSG equal last season's revenue in just 6 months: Reports

Lionel Messi may have endured a difficult first season with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), but his signing has proved highly lucrative for the club.

According to French media Sports.fr, the Argentine star has helped the Parisians equal their last season's revenue in just six months following an increase in jersey sales.

His No.30 shirt account for 60% of the French side's sales this season, beating that of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Sergio Ramos among others.

While it's common for new signings to attract more shirt buyers than the players who are already at the club, the gap here between Messi and the rest of the PSG squad is staggering.

It's a testament to the former Barcelona star's amazing pulling power. The Ligue 1 champions have also greatly benefitted from his arrival in terms of sponsorships.

The club has confirmed:

"The number of companies interested in a partnership is increasing, and the PSG brand is exploding on social networks."

Since PSG announced Messi's signing, their follower-count on social media giant Instagram has gone up from 32 million to 52 million.

The 34-year-old himself enjoys a staggering following base of 326 million, the second-most for an athlete. These numbers are behind only his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who leads the way with 439 million.

In the Parisians' squad, Neymar is next with 173 million, followed by Kylian Mbappe on 71 million.

Both players have statistically outperformed Messi this season, but the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has clearly been more valuable to the side's fortunes off the field.

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PSG star unlucky in first Ligue 1 campaign

In 24 Ligue 1 matches, Messi has struck only four goals, a ridiculously low stat for a player who is accustomed to scoring over 30 goals almost every season.

However, there's been some hard luck too, with the Argentine hitting the post 10 times, more than any player in Europe's top five leagues this season.

But he's tried to make up for that with his playmaking brilliance as Messi boasts 13 top-flight assists, the most behind only Mbappe (15). It's also two more than what he managed in his final La Liga season with Barcelona.

Paris have two more games left in their 2021-22 campaign - against Montpellier and Metz. Messi will hope to bag a few more goals and assists to further improve his tally before closing out his debut campaign with the side.