Messi to reject €400 million offer from Saudi football club

Monitoring Desk

RIYADH: The rumors on Lionel Messi’s future continued to heat up as the GOAT looks more and more likely to not sign an extension and leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season. Barcelona are very much interested in a reunion, and the best football reporter around has an important update on Messi’s next steps.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Messi and his camp received an official offer from Saudi Arabia club Al Hilal worth more than 400 million euros a year in salary. It’s a remarkable amount of money that seems hard to turn down, but the       World Cup winner is ready to do so and his “absolute priority is to stay in Europe”, Romano says.

It’s an encouraging update for Barça fans, since Messi isn’t accepting PSG’s offer but still wants to stay in Europe and Barça are the only team to have expressed strong interest so far.

But Fabrizio makes an important point: any move for Messi must fit within the complicated Financial Fair Play rules that Barça have to work with, but the club is working on several avenues to feel comfortable enough to send an official offer and open talks to bring the GOAT home.

Barça fans should be cautiously optimistic about Messi’s return, but there’s still a long way to go until that dream becomes a reality.

If Messi accepted the offer from Al Hilal, he would be the highest-paid athlete in the world by a wide margin.          Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the highest-paid athlete in the world with Al Nassr, another Saudi Pro League team. Ronaldo’s contract, which he signed in January, is estimated to be worth $220 million annually.

Messi won’t come anywhere near that number in Europe — Messi currently makes $75 million annually with PSG — but Europe’s top clubs can give him something that no Saudi Pro League team can: an opportunity to compete for trophies at the highest level in club soccer. And according to Romano, that’s Messi’s No. 1 priority.

The top decision-makers at Barcelona have made it no secret that they want Messi back in Spain, but the same financial problems that led to Messi’s abrupt exit from the storied club still exist today. Outside of Barcelona, no club in Europe has publicly courted Messi, but in the United States, MLS side Inter Miami CF has high hopes of pairing Messi with his ex-Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets.

Messi’s contract with PSG expires this summer. According to multiple reports, he’s not expected to renew with the French club.