The gossip mill for sports news was abuzz with a completely baffling assertion regarding what the next step is of Lionel Messi. According to the report, Messi was. Messi was ready to leave his current team, Paris Saint-Germain, and sign an unbelievable deal with an unknown Saudi Pro League team.
According to rumors that surfaced a weeks ago, Lionel’s Saudi contract will pay his $400 million per year. This isn’t a typo.
This is not only the biggest sports contract in the history of the sport, but $400 million a year will roughly double the amount Cristiano Ronaldo signed in December 2022 in order to join an Saudi team. At the time, Ronaldo’s $200+ million contract was considered mind-bogglingly-unprecedented.
The $400 million figure must have come from fake news isn’t it? Evidently, it was, at a minimum, inaccurate or fake. However, it wasn’t in that way you are you think.
Messi’s rumored contract, which is unimaginably big, has somehow grown unbelievable.
$1.1 Billion
As per the most recent report, Lionel Messi is on the cusp of signing a two-year contract with an unnamed Saudi team. The amount of the contract over two years is reported to be $1.1 billion. This will work out to a amount of …
$550,000,000
Messi has been spotted having talks at least three Saudi Pro League teams: Al Nassr, Al Hilal and Al Ittihad. Messi has had a meeting directly in Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund that is rich in oil which controls approximately 650 billion in assets and is the main sponsor of the Saudi Pro League.
If the player was signed by Al Nassr, that would mean he would be a teammate with Ronaldo. The truth is, I have no notion if it’s beneficial or not. This doesn’t sound fair to other teams, would it?
MLS Offer
Lionel has less than two months remaining in the remaining two months of his Paris Saint-Germain contract. He has declared that the club will not sign a new contract to the club under any circumstances. Also, he can not join the team that is likely to be his preferred team, the one he played with at his long-time club home club Barcelona. Barcelona is the only option due to the league contract and the salary caps.
There is an alternative that is not Saudi for Messi.
It is reported that the David Beckham-owned MLS team Inter Miami is reportedly preparing the 35-year-old player for an offer which would comprise significant amounts of stake in the club.
But, I’m not sure what the appeal of that offer will appear in contrast to earning $1.1 billion over the same amount for two months of work. In other words, what could the equity in the MLS team end up being worth in the most ideal, best scenario? A few hundreds of thousands? In the event that you gave me “substantial equity” in an MLS team or a cryptic prize in the second door I would choose with the mystery prize every time.
It’s a serious matter. Let’s assume that after taxes, Messi gets $600 million after having played in Saudi Arabia for two years (which also requires for him to take part in at a total of only 60 matches!). Let’s also say that Miami provided him with 30 percent ownership. Miami will need to be worth more than $2 billion in order for Messi’s stake worth 600 million dollars. Will that happen? Miami is believed to be worth about 500 million dollars today however, that seems like an exaggeration that is too optimistic.
