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3rd May 2023
07:25pm BST
Lionel Messi is reportedly in talks over a move to Saudi Arabia this summer.
Telegraph Sport claims that the Saudi government are prepared to offer the World Cup winner a lucrative deal to bring him to the Saudi Pro League.
Talks with the 35-year-old's representatives have begun ahead of when Messi becomes a free agent at the end of the season following the expiration of his contract at Paris Saint-Germain.
Reports claim that the deal could be worth as much as $400m annually (£320 million), blowing Cristiano Ronaldo's current deal of £165m-a-year out of the water.
Messi has been suspended by PSG after travelling to the Middle East without permission from the French side after they initially turned down his requests to fly to Riyadh.
Fans of the Ligue 1 side gathered outside of the club's training ground to protest the Argentine's decision to take up the unauthorised trip, chanting: "We are tired of mercenaries, we have to fire Messi".
The forward is an ambassador for the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) and both his and Ronaldo's ties to the country have been deemed as a success with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman's plans, known as Vision 2030, to make sport the main focus to modernise.
Saudi Arabia has recently become a primary location for some of sports biggest events over the last 12 months which includes Anthony Joshua's fights against Andy Ruiz Jr and Oleksandr Usyk as well as the nation's sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF) who led the consortium that bought Newcastle United.
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