Published By: Ritayan Basu
Last Updated: May 09, 2023, 15:37 IST
Argentine celebrity Lionel Messi will play in Saudi Arabia subsequent season underneath a “enormous” deal, a source close to the negotiations told AFP on Tuesday.
“Messi is a done deal. He will play in Saudi Arabia next season,” mentioned the supply, talking on situation of anonymity and with out naming the membership.
“The contract is phenomenal. It’s enormous. We are simply finalising some small particulars,” added the source, who is not authorised to speak to media.
Asked about the comments, Messi’s current club Paris Saint-Germain simply noted he remains under contract until June 30.
A separate PSG source said: “If the club had wanted to renew his contract, it would have been done earlier.”
The 35-year-old World Cup winner was suspended by Qatari-owned PSG final week for an unauthorised journey to Saudi, the place he’s a tourism ambassador.
Messi’s anticipated arrival within the oil-rich kingdom follows within the footsteps of his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Saudi Pro League membership Al Nassr in a large deal in January.
Ronaldo’s settlement to June 2025 is alleged to whole greater than 400 million euros ($439million), making him the world’s highest paid athlete in accordance to Forbes.
Both offers are being bankrolled by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of many world’s greatest sovereign wealth funds with greater than $620 billion in belongings, the supply mentioned.
“The negotiations didn’t take as a lot time as those with Ronaldo. As we now know the recipe to contract world-class gamers,” said the source.
“It’s Saudi Arabia that brought him not a specific club. The Money comes from one place — PIF.”
Ronaldo’s arrival has not had the affect Al Nassr would have hoped for on the pitch.
They have misplaced high spot within the Saudi Pro League desk and are out of the operating within the King’s Cup and Super Cup.
French coach Rudi Garcia departed in April.
PSG protesters
Messi, who turns 36 in June, has had two lacklustre seasons in Paris after a wonderful period at Barcelona the place he received 4 Champions League and 10 La Liga titles, and remains to be worshipped by the followers.
The report seven-time world participant of the 12 months, becoming a member of a mouth-watering assault that includes Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, scored simply 11 targets in his first season as he helped PSG to a routine Ligue 1 title.
But PSG have gotten no nearer to a coveted maiden Champions League victory, bowing out twice within the final 16 even with the illustrious Argentine within the line-up.
Frustrations boiled over final week when black-clad PSG protesters let off flares and sang hostile chants concentrating on the underperforming Messi, Neymar and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti.
The offended scenes contrasted with Messi’s career-crowning second in December, when he led Argentina to a breathless World Cup last victory over Mbappe and France in Doha to fill the most important hole in his resume.
Qatar’s emir draped him in a conventional bisht gown on the trophy ceremony, a reminder of the fossil-fuel riches pouring into soccer and Messi’s checking account through PSG.
However, Messi can also be a extremely paid tourism ambassador for Qatar’s neighbours and someday rivals Saudi Arabia, the world’s greatest oil exporter that’s making an attempt to diversify its largely single-stream economic system.
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