Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal is contemplating a massive €220 million ($240 million) bid for Lionel Messi, which would see him match generational rival Cristiano Ronaldo in earnings.
Al Hilal, the Saudi Arabian football club is apparently preparing a massive €220 million ($240 million) bid for Lionel Messi, who might face generational rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Argentine’s father and agent, Jorge Messi, is reportedly in the Kingdom this week on business. His son Lionel is apparently the face of a Saudi tourism campaign during Jorge Messi’s visit.
However, just over two months after Mundo Deportivo reported that the club was preparing a $350 million a year offer for him. Al Hilal are ready to put Messi to the test with a proposal that will pay him “exactly the same as the one made to Cristiano Ronaldo and that managed to convince” the Portuguese to sign for rival club Al-Nassr.
The amount of €220 million is above each season for a normal player is a reward for Ronaldo. He got this reward for both his football skills as well as for “becoming the image” of Saudi Arabia and its aspirations in the field of athletics.
The best two footballers since the late 2000s would be a major coup for the Kingdom as it gets set to submit a bid to host the 2030 World Cup. To some extent, Messi has already achieved this.
Ronaldo choose Al-Nassr as his new home when he and Manchester United tear up their relationship mutually earlier this season. Officials in the nation are also eager to change the regulations concerning wage limits in order to make the huge transaction possible.
Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal is eager to sign Lionel Messi
FIFA has sanctioned Al-Hilal until the summer, but this would not be a problem because Messi’s contract with PSG does not end until June 30.
Comparing to Ronaldo’s two-and-a-half-year contract, Messi is likely to sign a one-year agreement with Al-Hilal, perhaps risking his return to FC Barcelona.
Barcelona cannot match these sums when it comes to Messi’s salaries since they are deeply in debt and must slash €200 million ($214 million) from their payroll per La Liga president Javier Tebas’ orders.
According to recent rumors, president Joan Laporta made a “final offer” to Jorge and Lionel Messi that included a minimum annual salary of €200,000 ($214,000) and the proceeds from a farewell game for €100,000,000 ($107,000,000).
Accepting the alleged Al-Hilal deal would place Messi above of 2022 winner and PSG colleague Kylian Mbappe on Forbes’ ranking of the World’s Highest-Paid Soccer Players.
But, given his salary at Al-Nassr and off-field sponsorships, he would face competition from Ronaldo, as is customary for the sport’s highest honors and honours.