THE Saudi Arabian league want to count on more and more stars. Signing Cristiano Ronaldo is not enough for them. They are now also after Lionel Messi.
Like in La Liga, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi could be in two different teams who are fierce rivals. Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr’s biggest rivals, want to get the Argentinian in their team, according to ‘Mundo Deportivo’.
In order to persuade the recent World Cup winner, Al-Hilal will have to get their chequebook out. The Catalan paper says that they would be willing to pay him around $358m a year. An absurd amount of money and, of course, nobody would be able to match it.
Al-Hilal will do everything they can to persuade Messi. The Saudi Arabian club want to sign him now. They do not want to wait for the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign. They want Messi for the Club World Cup which will be played between 1st and 11th February.
If Messi accepts the offer, Al-Hilal will have to negotiate his departure with PSG. In other words, they would have to pay the French club money as his contract does not expire until June. That would be the most difficult part as the French club are tough negotiators.
PSG will not make it easy for them. Galtier counts on him for the whole season and owner Al-Khelaifi wants him to stay for the long term. In fact, the club has been working on a new contract for him for a long time.
In Saudi Arabia, they are optimistic over signing Messi. “He’s going to end here and I can tell you in which club…,” rally driver Nasser Al-Attiyah said recently. According to the latest information, it seems like Al-Hilal will be that club.
