sport news The 10 most outrageous contract demands after Lionel Messi's extravagant ... trends now
If you don't ask, you don't get.
That certainly seemed to be the mindset Lionel Messi had when he went to renegotiate his contract with Barcelona in 2020.
Details of his demands were leaked to the public by the Spanish media on Tuesday night, with it being revealed that the Argentine star wanted the Catalan giants to provide his and Luis Suarez's family with executive boxes at the Nou Camp.
Lionel Messi made some extravagant demands during his negotiations with Barcelona in 2020
That was not all, as Messi also demanded an £8.7m signing-on fee, a 10 per cent salary increase in 2021-22 and 2022-23 with three per cent annual interest, and a private jet to fly his family to and from Argentina every Christmas.
To cap it all off, he wanted the club to lower his buyout clause from £610m to just £8,700.
Barcelona agreed to all but two of Messi's demands - they were unwilling to lower his buyout clause to £8,700, and they wanted to make his signing-on bonus conditional on whether the club's income returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Messi subsequently walked away from the renewal discussions, and informed the club of his desire to leave. He ended up staying that summer, but left to join PSG the following year.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is far from the only footballer to push his luck at the negotiating table, though. In fact, attempting to put in bizarre clauses is far more common than some may think.
In light of Messi's requests being revealed, Sportsmail has drawn up a list of 10 of the most outrageous contract demands by footballers over the years.
Giuseppe Reina
Reina arrived at German side Arminia Bielefeld in 1996, but only agreed to sign on the dotted line if the club agreed to build him a new house for every year that he stayed with them.
He would quickly find out that the devil is in the detail. Reina did not stipulate the size or type of house that he wanted, which Arminia used to their advantage as they sent him a house made of Lego each year.
Reina would end up staying at the club for three years before leaving to join Borussia Dortmund in 1999.
Giuseppe Reina wanted a new house for every year he was at Arminia Bielefeld, but ended up getting a Lego house each year
Samuel Eto'o
Eto'o was one of European football's deadliest strikers in the 2000s, so it was a major coup for Anzhi Makhachkala when they signed him in 2011. He just had one small problem he needed to solve - he didn't want to live in Dagestan where the team are based.
As a result, he told the club he wanted a private jet to allow him to fly to Moscow and live there.
This meant that he needed to be flown 1,200 miles just to train with his team-mates, but Anzhi agreed to his demand, and kept hold of Eto'o for two years.
Samuel Eto'o had to be flown to training at Anzhi Makhachkala so he could live in Moscow
Keisuke Honda
The former AC Milan midfielder decided to try his luck in Brazil in 2020 when he agreed to sign for Botafogo.
The deal was far from straightforward, though, as Honda told the club that he wanted an armoured, bulletproof vehicle and extra security guards for when he was travelling in Rio de Janeiro.
His request was met, but Honda only ended up playing 27 games for Botafogo prior to being released.
Keisuke Honda wanted a bulletproof vehicle and extra security during his time at Botafogo
Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho lit up European football during his prime, winning the Ballon d'Or and Champions League during his time at Barcelona.
He opted to return to his homeland to play for Flamengo in 2011, but he was clearly keen to ensure that he had enough down time to do his own thing away from the pitch.
He ordered the Brazilian outfit to insert a clause
