According to the British daily The Telegraph, the Saudi Arabian government is preparing the most lucrative salary deal in the history of football to bring Lionel Messi to its Saudi Pro League this summer.
The report suggests talks with Messi's representatives, led by his father Jorge, are underway for when the player becomes a free agent at the end of June upon the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
There are discussions that the whole package could be worth $400 million annually (£320 million) that would exceed even the £165 million that Cristiano Ronaldo is being paid annually to play in Saudi until the summer of 2025.
The conventional process for signing the world's top talent, as with Ronaldo in December, has been for deals to have state involvement before a final destination club is decided.
The Saudi government has recruited the former Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook, who was in charge of the club when the Abu Dhabi takeover was completed in 2008, in a similar position in the Saudi Pro League. It is anticipated that he will be involved in any discussions to secure Messi's signature.
A PSG contract offer has been on the table since January to extend Messi's stay in the French capital for another 12 months but there is now no expectation that it will be signed.
Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr, currently second in the league behind leaders Al-Ittihad. Al-Nassr's traditional rivals are Al-Hilal and placing Messi with that club, historically the nation's most successful, would recreate the rivalry the pair had for nine years with Real Madrid and Barcelona. Al-Hilal won the Asian Champions League equivalent in 2021, their fourth title in that competition.
The Messi project combined with Ronaldo's impact so far in Saudi – which has been considered a success by the Saudi authorities, is expected to secure the country's status as a final-club destination for the world's biggest names. The development of the game has been fast-tracked by Saudi's ruling power Mohammed bin Salman under the crown prince's Vision 2030 plan to place sport at the heart of the country's modernising plan.
Messi is already the highest-profile "ambassador" for the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA), with another major publicity push this week having come at the cost of upsetting PSG. The club have fined their most famous player two weeks wages and suspended him for the same period for travelling to Saudi this week without permission, to honour his commitments to his STA contract.
PSG's decision to discipline Messi following the 3-1 defeat to Lorient was not taken lightly. The player's requests to visit Saudi were turned down so when he flew to Riyadh on his private jet it was treated as a breach of his contract. When Messi then did not turn up for training on Monday PSG wanted to take a stand although they have not made a formal statement on the matter to avoid inflaming the situation further.
