Lionel Messi, the Argentine superstar, will play in Saudi Arabia next season under a “huge” deal, a person close to the negotiations told AFP on Tuesday.
“Messi is a done deal. He will play in Saudi Arabia next season,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity and without naming the club.
“The contract is exceptional. It’s huge. We are just finalising some small details,” added the source, who is not authorised to speak to media.
When asked about the remarks, Messi’s current club, Paris Saint-Germain, merely stated that he is still under contract until June 30.
According to a separate PSG source, “if the club had wanted to renew his contract, it would have been done earlier.”
Last week, Qatari-owned PSG suspended the 35-year-old World Cup winner for an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia, where he is a tourist ambassador.
Messi’s planned entrance in the oil-rich country comes in the footsteps of his archrival Cristiano Ronaldo, who signed a lucrative deal with Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr in January.
According to Forbes, Ronaldo’s contract through June 2025 is worth more than 400 million euros ($439 million), making him the world’s most paid athlete.
According to the source, both transactions are being funded by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds with more than $620 billion in assets.
“The negotiations didn’t take as much time as the ones with Ronaldo. As we now know the recipe to contract world-class players,” said the source.
“It’s Saudi Arabia that brought him not a specific club. The Money comes from one place — PIF.”
Ronaldo’s arrival has not had the impact Al Nassr would have hoped for on the pitch.
They have lost top spot in the Saudi Pro League table and are out of the running in the King’s Cup and Super Cup. French coach Rudi Garcia departed in April.
