As a big development related to PSG star Lionel Messi’s future, The Telegraph has reported that the Saudi government is preparing to offer Messi £320 million per year ($400m) for his Suadi Arabia move.
If the deal gets materialized, this will be far more than Cristiano Ronaldo’s deal at Al-Nassr. In December last year, Ronaldo became the highest-paid player in football history, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with Al Nassr for £173 million ($210m) a year.
According to the report, the talks led by Messi’s father and agent, Jorge, are underway as he prepares to become a free agent in the summer when he leaves PSG.
Messi is set to leave the French club when his contract expires at the end of the season after two years with the club, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly comment on the Argentine great’s status.
The person said Messi’s departure was a mutual decision, with his contract effectively allowed to run down since January.
The news comes a day after PSG suspended the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner following his trip to Saudi Arabia without the club’s permission.
Messi has a commercial contract with Saudi Arabia to promote tourism in the Middle Eastern country and has been linked with a lucrative move there at the end of the season.
Messi was supposed to be training alongside his teammates on Monday, but was instead in Saudi Arabia, holding a falcon on his arm, watching a palm-weaving demonstration and looking around the Arabian Horse Museum as part of his commercial contract with the kingdom to promote tourism there
It was an expensive trip for the recent World Cup winner, who won’t get paid or be allowed to train or play with the team during his suspension.
It looks like it will be a disappointing end to a turbulent and somewhat underwhelming two-season spell at a club where soap opera-style drama, on and off the field, is rarely far away given the presence of other superstars like Kylian Mbappé and Neymar in the squad.
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