The Saudi Gazette and transfer market specialist Fabrizio Romano have revealed that Lionel Messi has received a monstrous offer of around €400 million ($438 million) each year to continue his club career in Saudi Arabia.
Tuesday evening, Romano shared the news on Twitter, saying that Al-Hilal has already sent the Argentine a formal proposal. The Saudi Gazette claimed hours earlier to have learned of the offer from “well-informed sources.”
This comes after Mundo Deportivo reported in January that the Saudi club was preparing a $350 million per season deal for the World Cup champion.
Yet, according to Romano, Messi’s “ultimate priority” is to continue playing in Europe and not join Ronaldo, who signed for Al-Nassr at the turn of 2023, in the Kingdom.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is now under contract with Paris Saint-Germain until June 30, 2021, when the expiration of the two-year contract he signed after switching from FC Barcelona.
Despite club vice president Rafa Yuste’s recent confirmation that negotiations had begun with Messi’s camp, Romano claims that Barcelona is “waiting on FFP (Financial Fair Play) to send their offer and begin negotiations.”
La Liga president Javier Tebas has openly told the Catalans that they must cut €200 million ($219 million) from their pay bill before the 2023/2024 season to buy players and register contracts with current talents like Gavi.
According to Romano, PSG’s contract extension offer was rejected because Messi “needed sporting guarantees” before moving forward.
Messi is expected to quit the Ligue 1 club this summer unless he accepts a pay cut from the €3.375 million ($3.7 million) he earns monthly, according to the same French sports publication.
Barça cannot understand offering Messi such astronomical sums. Yet if he were to tire of European football and accept Al-offer, Hilal’s 35-year-old would suddenly become one of Forbes’ highest-paid soccer players in the world.
Messi finished second in 2022 to PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe with earnings of $120 million compared to Mbappe’s $128 million.
This event occurred as a result of the Frenchman’s contract extension with his team in the spring. Messi appears increasingly unlikely to sign a new contract with the Qatari-backed giants, whose fans jeered him again on Sunday when his name was revealed before a 1-0 home loss to Lyon.
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