With Lionel Messi expected to join a new club at the end of the season, a Saudi suitor has reportedly offered the Argentine a contract that would see him earn more than double Cristiano Ronaldo's salary.
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According to Forbes, Ronaldo is now the highest-earning athlete in the world after deciding to make the move to the Saudi Pro League earlier this year, but that could change if Messi decides to accept the contract another team in the same division has offered him.
According to L'Equipe, a club in the Gulf state, believed to be Al Hilal, has offered the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner a deal worth €500 million (R10 billion) a season.
That would easily trump Ronaldo's deal with Al Nassr, worth €200 million (R4.1 billion) a year, and catapult Messi straight to the top of the highest-earning footballers list.
The offer is reportedly a two-year deal and while it was stated earlier this week that the Rosario native had accepted a move to the Middle East, the player's agent has since rubbished the claim and insisted that the diminutive playmaker would only make a decision on his future once the current Ligue 1 campaign comes to an end.
The forward is also believed to prefer to stay in Europe, specifically favouring a return to Barcelona, but because the LaLiga league leaders are still in the midst of a financial crisis, his return to the Camp Nou remains highly unlikely.
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While he is said to prefer a return to Spain, the 35-year-old has not dismissed the Saudi offer, and it is still very much on the table for the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner.
With the increasing likelihood that Barca will fail to be able to re-sign their all-time top goalscorer, reports of a move to the Saudi Pro League continue to gather increasing momentum.
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