Saudi Arabia May 09, 2023: Lionel Messi has discarded a potential return to FC Barcelona, and has accepted an offer to join Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia this summer with the Catalans' captain Sergio Busquets after initially requesting €600 million ($662 million) a year according to El Chiringuito.
The popular Spanish football programme dropped the "world exclusive" around midday on Monday in mainland Europe through Mundo Deportivo collaborator Marcal Lorente.
Both Messi and Busquets become free agents on June 30. While Messi's camp has informed Paris Saint Germain that he will not continue in the French capital according to Fabrizio Romano, Barca have been laboring to put together a return package for the Argentine and also get their skipper Busquets to extend.
If El Chiringuito's information is accurate, however, Al-Hilal will snatch both men away and also another Barca club legend in Jordi Alba.
Lorente reports that Busquets will tell first team coach Xavi Hernandez his decision on Tuesday while Alba will rescind his current deal which expires in mid-2024.
Lorente, who was close to the board of former Barca president Josep Bartomeu, isn't the only figure to claim that Messi will turn down the chance to don Blaugrana again in order to take big money in the Middle East.
While Onda Cero reported that Messi would head to Saudi Arabia after spending a year at Barca, FIFA-registered agent Marco Kirdermir, who is close to both PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi and the King of Saudi Arabia, explained on Radio Marca that Messi would swerve Camp Nou and only grace Europe's biggest stadium "when he retires".
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