Lionel Messi turned down eye-popping offer before signing for Inter Miami (Image: Getty)
Last summer, the Saudi Pro League reportedly offered Lionel Messi a £16m-a-week deal. Such a salary would have eclipsed that of Riyadh's current star player Cristiano Ronaldo, but the great Argentine opted for the sunny shores of Florida.
Messi, now 37, dealt the Gulf state a blow by rejecting a rumoured move to Al-Hilal – who opted to sign his former Barcelona team-mate Neymar a month later – and followed in the footsteps of David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic by heading to the United States.
It was Beckham's expansion team – approved in 2017 – Inter Miami who were lucky enough to win the Messi sweepstakes, and his current contract, while as lucrative as you'd expect, earning him a base salary estimated at £9m, contains plenty of other trimmings that sweeten the deal.
The football icon could have been on a pay scale of more than £800million a year if he were to jet off to the Middle East, and he seemed certain to sign when the time came. It came after his former club PSG – owned by Qatari government-backed Qatar Sports Investments – suspended him for missing a training session to fly to Saudi Arabia.
But they were rebuffed and a small reunion in blaugrana colours took place at Inter Miami following Messi's arrival. Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Saurez all jumped ship and ended up on the east coast.
The reasons that led Messi to reject such a tempting offer are unknown. But it is safe to assume that all the incentives that came with his MLS contract may have turned his head.
Messi has a more than positive relationship with Saudi Arabia (Image: Getty)
The deal, which expires in 2025, is said to earn the player a £15.5m fee, including his base salary and a stake in the Florida team. It is bolstered by other backers from Apple – whose TV service broadcasts MLS matches – and Adidas. In total, some estimate his two-and-a-half-year deal is worth more than £110m.
Yet that figure would have been much higher had he chosen to sign for Al-Hilal, and so perhaps any decision was made without considering finances – or at least not at the forefront.
There is no doubt about Messi's ethical stance towards the oil-rich country, as he has signed a three-year contract with the Saudi Tourism Authority, which will earn him a whopping £19m over that period. Perhaps the biggest hint of this disavowal came when the legend spoke to Mundo Deportivo and Sport.
Messi may have chosen MLS because it suited his family better (Image: Getty)
“I'm at a point where I want to get away from the spotlight a little bit, think more about my family,” Messi said. “I've had two years where I was so unhappy on a personal level that I wasn't enjoying it.
“I had this month which was spectacular for me because I won the World Cup, but apart from that, it was a difficult period for me. I want to find joy again, to enjoy my family, my children, everyday life.”
Messi's family loves the lifestyle and the beauty of Miami's seaside. While a move to the Middle East could have earned the superstar a substantial sum, he remains an ambassador for the Gulf state and has tapped into the US market for them while also tending to the needs of his wife and three sons.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1945084/lionel-messi-mls-saudi-arabia-contract