Soccer superstar Lionel Messi has reportedly turned down Saudi Arabia Club Al-Hilal $1 billion two year deal.
Instead of signing with the Saudi club Al-Hilal for a reported $1 billion over two years, Messi chose Inter Miami, of the U.S.-based Major League Soccer (MLS), as the locale to play out his final days.
Al-Hilal is now owned by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF)—the soon-to-be financial engine of the PGA. “If it had been a question of money, I would have gone to [Saudi] Arabia or elsewhere where they offered me a lot of money,” Messi said in an interview with Spanish news outlets Mundo Deportivo and Sport, Time reports.
It’s a nice notion, the greatest player of his generation rejecting the endless resources of a state with a problematic human rights record, in order to take his talents to South Beach and further grow the beautiful game in America.
Fellow superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema didn’t take such a stand: they’re toiling in Saudi Arabia for eye-popping sums.
While Messi, 35, surely could have cashed Saudi riches, don’t be fooled.
He’s still following the money, like he always has. The salary attached to his deal isn’t known, but Messi will reportedly also be given an ownership stake in Inter Miami once his playing career ends.
His deal will likely include a revenue-sharing agreement with Apple, tied to new subscribers signing up to MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+, as well as a portion of Adidas’ additional profits resulting from his MLS presence.
(In 2017, Messi signed a lifetime sponsorship agreement with Adidas.) He’s making a long-term bet in the U.S., which is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup. MLS valuations are rising and Inter Miami, which is co-owned by David Beckham, was valued at $585 million in 2022, according to Sportico.
Messi will surely goose that figure.
If he wasn’t following money, Messi would have spent his final years in Barcelona, the club he joined when he was just 13 years old, the club with which he grew into an all-time great. But under La Liga’s strict financial rules, a deal couldn’t be worked out.
In the summer of 2021, Messi left Barcelona to sign with Paris Saint-Germain, which is owned by Qatar, another controversial entity in sports.
That contract reportedly awarded him $41 million in annual net salary, including signing bonus. He also reportedly earns millions per year as a Saudi tourism ambassador.
Source: Time
