Following long-time speculations that have trailed the Paris Saint-Germain striker, Lionel Messi’s alleged £522million juicy offer to join Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal club, the PSG coach, Christophe Galtier, on Thursday, confirmed the star’s departure from the club at the end of the season.
“I had the privilege of coaching the best player in the history of football,” Galtier said. “This will be his last match at the Parc des Princes, and I hope that he will receive the warmest of welcomes.”
Lionel Messi’s transfer saga is drawing to an end, with the Barcelona legend set to shun a move back to Camp Nou in favour of a transfer to the Saudi Pro League that will earn him the richest contract in sports history.
The deal has been virtually confirmed by Abdul Aziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, the Saudi Minister of Sport, who has hinted that Messi and Real Madrid star, Karim Benzema will be joining Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League this summer.
The Barcelona legend seems poised to spurn other offers from all over the world and make a mega-money move to the Middle East to renew his rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo, who is at Al-Nassr.
Messi will be out of contract with PSG at the end of the season and will not renew his contract with the Ligue 1 club.
Meanwhile, the sports minister is quoted by Sport as having said: “Benzema and Messi? The clubs will officially announce this in due course.”
Although it is not known which Saudi Pro League clubs the pair will be joining, it is expected that Messi goes to Al-Hilal to square up in direct competition against Ronaldo once more.
Barcelona had been holding out hope of Messi making a dramatic return to Camp Nou this summer, but it appears that the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules working against them will prove too steep.
The club has been working on solutions, with a report that they might even team up with David Beckham’s Inter Miami to manufacture a loan deal. However, even this appears to be beyond the Camp Nou side.
Messi does not want to wait all summer for Barca to find a solution, while his father, Jorge, is reportedly pushing him towards the big-money deal being offered by Saudi Arabia.
Benzema, too, is likely to move to Saudi Arabia on a free transfer, with the Real Madrid man also out of contract at the end of the season.
