Paris Saint Germain pulled out all of the stops to secure the signing of Lionel Messi this summer and are propping up the lucrative salary package of football's biggest star with the inclusion of cryptocurrency assets, Sportsmail can reveal.
The sporting world is still reeling from Messi's switching of allegiance from Barcelona to the French capital, after it was confirmed that he could no longer be re-registered at the Nou Camp.
Eyebrows were raised when PSG immediately became frontrunners for the superstar, despite already boasting the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on their books, along with summer signings Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi.
And, despite Messi's eye-watering £1million-per-week two-year deal which sees him remain as the world's highest paid footballer, PSG struck a deal with the player and his representatives to see a portion of his payment package made up of '$PSG fan tokens.'
Back in September 2018 PSG announced an innovative partnership with blockchain company socios.com, kick-starting a process whereby supporters of the club could begin to purchase $PSG fan tokens, powered by $Chiliz cryptocurrency.
The company became the 'official branded cryptocurrency partner' of PSG, and now a breakthrough moment has arrived with the virtual currency playing a defining role in what is arguably the football deal of the century.
On Thursday morning the Parisian club confirmed that 'Leo Messi received a large number of ‘$PSG Fan Tokens' during the completion of his contract, providing vast value to his pay packet with the Ligue 1 giants.
The tokens function as digital currency and hold value of their own, while enabling supporters to essentially cash these in with the club in order to have a say on how operations are run on an internal level.
Previously, PSG fan token holders have been able to determine end of season awards for the club, along with having the power to make physical changes in the players' dressing room.
Though the total value of the package remains unknown, PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi this week insisted the club have not broken financial fair play guidelines and remain secure in the knowledge that they are operating within their means.
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