Man City exec: Messi one of ‘very few players’ who affect revenue

A Manchester City executive shared revealing comments on player value when discussing the transfer market.

City Football Group’s chief football operations officer Omar Berrada gave a sprawling interview with The Athletic that touched on Messi, other transfers, Ruben Dias, the oft-rumored Kalidou Koulibaly transfer, and more.

There’s been plenty of speculation and banter in years’ past about whether a superstar player can affect the bottom line by adding value to a club while also commanding a monster wage.

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In discussing a possible move for Lionel Messi -- City is interested if it becomes an option -- Berrada says the number of players who significantly help a club’s finances off the pitch is extremely low.

“There are very few players, maybe just Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, who can make a significant impact on the revenue side as well as the football side. With a player of Messi’s dimension, it can make a significant impact on the revenue side — to be able to sustain the investment of his wages — and help the team potentially reach further heights. So all of that is taken into consideration but, clearly, we continue sticking to our position of wanting to be very, very successful on the pitch and in a financially stable manner.”

Noted, especially given Messi’s rumored move to City would’ve included a couple of season at New York City FC.

Another interesting note?

The article also points out that in the past three years, “City’s expenditure is below that of Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, while Manchester United, Arsenal and Aston Villa all have a higher net spend than them.”