Messi offered €1 BILLON deal as Barcelona near LaLiga green light

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 19 May 2023 17:52 BST
• 3 min read

Lionel Messi has been offered a contract worth €1 billion, according to reports in Spain as Barcelona step up their chase for the PSG attacker.

Messi will be a free agent at the end of the season, and with his departure from the Parc des Princes since having looked inevitable for several weeks, he now faces a major decision in his career.

Barcelona are eager to re-sign the World Cup winner, who departed them in 2021, but Messi is being increasingly courted by Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.

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Indeed, according to reports from Cadena SER, the Saudi club have increased their offer for the 35-year-old. Instead of offering him €400 million per year over the course of a two-year deal, they will raise that to €500m per year – more than doubling Cristiano Ronaldo’s salary at Al-Nassr in the process.

Their previous offer to Messi would already have made him the best-paid sportsman in history, but now he has the possibility of recouping a historic €1bn for just two years work.

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Barcelona step up Messi interest

Barcelona, meanwhile, cannot compete with such riches but are trying to piece together an offer that will allow Messi to return to Camp Nou, where he is the club’s record appearance maker, goal scorer and assist maker.

The Primera Division champions face financial problems but are working to resolve these in order to clear the path of Financial Fair Play (FFP) to allow a deal with Messi to be struck. This would be at a far reduced wage to the one being offered by Al-Hilal.

Gerard Romero reports that the Catalans are on track to get the official OK from LaLiga regarding their feasibility plan in the middle of next week. This would allow them to prioritise the renewal of existing players, such as Gavi and Ousmane Dembele, but would crucially open the door for Messi to join.

Barcelona, though, must fear the sheer financial weight of the offer from Saudi Arabia will prove too temping for Messi to refuse.