Saudi Chief Reacts to Talk of £246m Messi Transfer Deal

The general secretary of the Saudi Football Federation has reacted to talk of Lionel Messi being reunited with Cristiano Ronaldo in the Middle East.

Portuguese superstar Ronaldo has already taken on a new challenge in 2023, with the most lucrative contract in world football being signed by the five-time Ballon d’Or winner at Al-Nassr. There has been speculation to suggest that his deal could be topped by a £246 million ($305m) approach for Messi from Al-Hilal – with the Argentine World Cup winner yet to sign a new contract at Paris Saint-Germain that will keep him away from free agency this summer – but Ibrahim Alkassim claims to be unaware of such an offer being readied for the owner of seven Golden Balls.

The Saudi football chief has told Marca: “At the moment we do not know anything about a possible Lionel Messi arrival. Although I do not hide that, as Saudi Federation, we would like to have him one day in the domestic league. The idea of the Federation is always to improve our football, and of course we would like to see Cristiano and Messi in the same league again, but the truth is that we don’t know anything now.”

Messi is still expected to agree fresh terms with PSG at some stage, with the 35-year-old South American set to remain in France for at least one more year.