A few weeks ago, reports from France said that Lionel Messi and his current club PSG have agreed on a contract extension in principal. The Argentinian just won the World Cup and wanted to celebrate and relax first and then to continue the negotiations. Messi returned to Paris recently, and played last night against Angers, scoring one of the two goals of the game. So, we’re assuming that everything is OK and according to plan. But as long as there is no official confirmation on the contract extension, it means that the deal has not been reached, and that means that other clubs can also contact Messi’s agent and ask about his availability. And according to Mundo Deportivo, that’s exactly what Al Hilal is doing. 🚨 Al Hilal, Al Nassr’s biggest rival, would like to sign Lionel Messi and are ready to offer him €300M/year. 🇦🇷🇸🇦 Just under double what Cristiano Ronaldo is earning. 🤑(Source: @mundodeportivo) pic.twitter.com/YBMOBzU4wv— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) January 12, 2023 PSG’s forward has a valid contract until June 2023 and his club is hoping that they can reach a deal for at least another season. But the wealthy Saudi club wants to highjack the deal. After Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Al Nassr a few weeks ago, their arch-rivals want to bring in Lionel Messi, and are offering him more money. According to the reports, we are talking about a large sum, around 300 million dollars per year (Ronaldo is on a 200 million a year), which is certainly enough for Messi to at least hear the proposition in full. Ronaldo unveiled in Saudi Arabia: ‘My work in Europe is done’Saudi Arabia is already familiar to him. He is their ambassador and visited the country numerous times, and promoted it through his Instagram posts with a hashtag #VisitSaudi. This Arab country is spending a lots of money in recent years in promotion, as they want to open themselves to the Western world and they realized sport is the best way to do it. Cristiano Ronaldo is the first step, a World Cup 2030 with Greece and Egypt is the second step and Lionel Messi would be a perfect third step. The country is willing to give Al Hilal enough money to lure the Argentinian, and the club is open to all options: a January purchase or the June free agent transfer. But, since PSG is owned by the rival state of Qatar, you can bet your life that they will do everything in their power to stop this potential transfer on the first step. It so happens that PSG visits Riyadh next week to play a friendly against a team between Al Nassr and Al Hilal, so the leaders of the Saudi club could take advantage of it to also start negotiations with those in charge of PSG, if they are willing to negotiate at all. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6938213##
