Month: January 2013

The Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala have been linked with a mega money move for the Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi in the last few weeks. The 25-year-old Argentine recently signed a new contract with the team that will keep him at the Catalan club until the age of 31. However, it has been revealed in the last few days that Anzhi Makhachkala tried to get the player by activating his release clause. Messi is one of the most valuable players in the world. His previous contract had a release clause of just over £ 200 million, which has been scaring off buyers up until now.

However, there have been rumours that Anzhi Makhachkala matched this release clause and held talks with the player. It has also been rumoured that they offered around £ 450,000 per week in wages for the player. It is approximately around £ 25 million after taxes, which would have easily made Messi the best paid player in the world by some distance. The current holder of record– Samuel Eto’o of Anzhi Makhachkala – currently earns around £ 250,000 per week. However, the Russian club have denied such rumours by saying that there is no truth in them. Anzhi Makhachkala have been backed by a Russian billionaire, who has brought in a number of stars at extraordinary wages.

“There isn’t a shred of truth in it. Asking a question about this, let alone writing about it, shows a lack of understanding about how Anzhi’s sporting model is designed and what its principles and priorities are,” said the marketing consultant of the club, Tkachenko in a recent interview. If the club had indeed brought in Messi at this price, then it would have easily broken the £ 80 million transfer fee record held by the Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo.