Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal saw their rival Al-Nassr bring Cristiano Ronaldo and now they want to respond with a splurge of their own.
French football journalist Abdellah Boulma reported on Thursday that Al-Hilal is attempting to lure the Argentine with a contract worth €1 billion over two years, or €500 million per season.
Additionally, the Saudi Arabian side wants to offer midfielder Marco Verratti a contract worth €60 million per year.
Pour tenter de convaincre Lionel Messi, Al-Hilal 🇸🇦 propose à l'Argentin un contrat d'un milliard d'euros sur deux ans, soit 500 millions par saison.
Le club saoudien souhaite également s’offrir Marco Verratti avec un contrat de 60 millions d’euros/an à la clef.— Abdellah Boulma (@AbdellahBoulma) May 11, 2023
Messi would be the easier target for Al-Hilal since the 35-year-old will be a free agent once his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires on June 30. Nonetheless, the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner can sign a pre-contract right now.
Nonetheless, there are other possible landing spots for Messi that Al-Hilal will need to compete with. FC Barcelona wants to reunite with the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner; however, their financial situation remains a hurdle as they’ll need to offload players.
MLS side Inter Miami has also been linked to the veteran, so that’s another destination for Messi. But, the PSG stars reported preference is to stay in Europe.
Meanwhile, Verratti is under contract with PSG until 2026, so the capital club would need to sign off on a sale and the player will also need to agree to the transfer.
It will be interesting to see if either or both decide to leave Europe for a big payday at Al-Hilal.
