An anonymous source close to the negotiations has revealed that Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi will play in Saudi Arabia next season as part of a “huge” deal. The source did not disclose the club Messi will be playing for and spoke on the condition of anonymity. “The contract is exceptional. It’s huge. We are just finalising some small details,” the source said, adding that the contract negotiations did not take as much time as the ones with Messi’s arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi’s current club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has stated that the player remains under contract until June 30, but a separate source from the club noted that if PSG had wanted to renew his contract, it would have been done earlier. PSG suspended Messi last week for an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia, where he is a tourism ambassador. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds with over $620 billion in assets, is reportedly bankrolling the deal.
The expected arrival of Messi in Saudi Arabia follows the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr in January. Ronaldo’s agreement, which will run until June 2025, is said to be worth more than 400 million euros ($439 million), making him the world’s highest-paid athlete according to Forbes. Both deals are being financed by PIF.
Messi’s arrival in Saudi Arabia comes after two lacklustre seasons at PSG, where he has scored only 11 goals in his first season, and PSG has yet to win a coveted Champions League title. Although joining an attack featuring Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, Messi has been criticised for PSG’s poor performance in the field. PSG protesters let off flares and sang hostile chants last week, targeting Messi, Neymar and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti. In December, Messi led Argentina to a World Cup final victory over Mbappe and France in Doha, which was a career-crowning moment for him.
Messi is also a highly-paid tourism ambassador for Qatar’s neighbours and sometime rivals, Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s largest oil exporter attempting to diversify its largely single-stream economy.
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