Lionel Messi has confirmed his desire to not move to Saudi Arabia, unlike his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo. The former Barcelona star has also been recently linked with a move back to the Blaugranas. According to prominent journalist Ben Jacobs, however, Messi is “unlikely” to return to Barcelona.
He tweeted “Sources indicate a Messi return to Barcelona is unlikely and that Messi has no desire to move to Saudi at this stage of his career, especially not with a strong chance of winning an eighth ballon d’Or in 2023. Al-Hilal has repeatedly downplayed claims linking Messi with them.”
Sources indicate a Messi return to Barcelona is unlikely and that Messi has no desire to move to Saudi at this stage of his career, especially not with a strong chance of winning an eighth ballon d’Or in 2023. Al-Hilal have repeatedly downplayed claims linking Messi with them.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) January 23, 2023
Almost a fortnight ago, news outlet Mundo Deportivo reported about Saudi Arabia’s interest in Messi. They reported that Al Hilal was ready to offer the Argentine a deal of up to $350 million a year. This would make him the highest-paid player ahead of Ronaldo who is earning more than $200 million a year at Al-Nassr.
It seems like Messi has chosen to fight for an eighth ballon d’Or instead of moving to Al-Nassr’s rivals, Al-Hilal.
Lionel Messi and PSG contract rumors
According to many reports, Messi has made a U-turn and now has no intention of renewing his expiring contract with Paris Saint Germain. The seven-time ballon d’Or winner became a PSG player in the summer of 2021. He left his boyhood club FC Barcelona because of financial reasons.
The cash-strapped club of Barcelona could not navigate through a strict La Liga salary cap. So, Messi became a free agent. This allowed PSG to come in and sign Messi on a two-year deal.
Messi’s contract with PSG expires on June 30, 2023. This blows up Messi’s future in the air. Previously, it was reported before the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, that Messi intended to extend terms at PSG. However, rumors are doing the rounds that nothing is certain.
Also, according to Gerard Romero, an FC Barcelona expert, Messi has shown no intention of renewing his PSG deal.
🚨🇦🇷 Paris Saint-Germain reached a verbal agreement with Lionel Messi to extend the contract. It’s a verbal pact to continue together. #PSG
No decision yet on leght of contract & salary, it will be decided in a new meeting soon.
Al Khelaifi and Campos, working on it. pic.twitter.com/upho1SCc7P
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 21, 2022
On the other hand, just four days after Messi led Argentina to the World Cup, Fabrizio Romano tweeted about Messi’s verbal agreement with Messi. He tweeted, “Paris Saint-Germain reached a verbal agreement with Lionel Messi to extend the contract. It’s a verbal pact to continue together. #PSG
No decision yet on length of contract & salary, it will be decided in a new meeting soon.
Al Khelaifi and Campos, working on it.”
As of now, it looks like Romano’s story will turn out to be true. Messi is again rumored to continue at the Ligue 1 champions.
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