During the nine years that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo played together in Spain, we were treated to a total of 25 “El Clásico” matchups between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Thrilling contests between arguably the two best players to have ever lived at the absolute height of their powers. And the recent news that Lionel Messi has received an astonishing offer from Al Hilal SFC points towards the possibility of seeing this old rivalry played out as “El Cashico” in Saudi Arabia.
For those of you who haven’t been following along, Lionel Messi’s contract with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) is set to expire in six months effectively making him a free agent. We have heard everything from reports of a move to the MLS to play for Inter Miami CF, hopes of a potential reunion with FC Barcelona at Camp Nou, and even some confidence that Messi will ultimately renew terms with PSG.
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According to Mundo Deportivo, the Saudis have offered Lionel Messi offer Messi €300 million ($463 million) or up to $507 million a year. This would indeed make Messi the highest-paid player in the world, overtaking Ronaldo’s contract reportedly worth US$200 million (AU$297.5 million) to play for Al-Nassr FC from only a few months ago.
Lionel Messi already has very lucrative ties to Saudi Arabia. He was announced as the Kingdom’s Visit Saudi tourism ambassador – on a deal reportedly worth around $40 million – last May and has already made a series of promotional visits to Riyadh and Jeddah in the past year.
Messi’s father is reportedly in Saudi Arabia presently, negotiating terms with Al Hilal. PSG is expected to play a friendly in Saudi Arabia later this month against a select side of players from Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal. All eyes will be on whether negotiations advance any further. The football fans of Saudi Arabia were already excited to see this matchup between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but it looks like this could become a far more regular fixture in the Saudi Pro League.
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