Whistles rather than cheers greeted Lionel Messi as he strode out on the Parc des Princes pitch for the final time as a PSG player after the club’s 3-2 defeat against Clermont in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
It was an unhappy – and entirely predictable – end to Messi’s time at the club following confirmation before the game that he would be moving on this summer after two years in Paris.
Relations between Messi, PSG and the club’s supporters have been strained for months in part due to yet another unsuccessful Champions League campaign as well as the Argentine’s unauthorised promotional jaunt to Saudi Arabia which landed him a two-week suspension and fine in May.
And so the news of Messi’s imminent departure has come as little surprise.
As was the case when he tearfully left Barcelona two years ago, Messi, who turns 36 at the end of June, is free to discuss his next move which might well be the final contract he signs before hanging up his boots.
Here are the potential destinations for Messi next season:
Al Hilal
Messi was paid a reported £25m to become a tourism ambassador for Saudi Arabia last year and has regularly posted pictures of himself and his family in the country on social media since, most recently on 15 May.
Given Messi’s association with Saudi Arabia and the country’s blatant push to become a global hub of elite sport – or in other words, to globally sportswash its reputation – it is unsurprising that he has been tipped to follow in Cristiano Ronaldo’s footsteps by heading to the middle east.
Rebooting the Messi vs Ronaldo rivalry is evidently a tantalising prospect for Saudi Arabia’s moneymen.
Analysis: Why Saudi Arabia desperately want Messi
By Kevin Garside, i‘s chief sport correspondent
The cost to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal of hiring Messi is reportedly £520m over two years beginning in June. This dwarfs the £170m yearly sum paid by Al-Nassr to Cristiano Ronaldo, the value of which to the host country is enhanced considerably with the revival of the game’s pre-eminent rivalry over the past 15 years.
That both are past their best is irrelevant. It is not about the football they produce but the power of association. Messi and Ronaldo are trip switches that connect us immediately with Saudi Arabia. Whilst many well-adjusted folk reel at the brazen public relations grab, the development lands without a murmur in enough territories to make the deal cheap at twice the price.
In one mesmeric month Messi demonstrated the capacity of sport to shift the agenda by quietening anti-Qatari sentiment around the World Cup. The clumsy justifications of Fifa president Gianni Infantino that lit up the opening weekend, the flood of negative commentary around human rights abuses, the ill-treatment of imported labour, allegations of corruption around the bidding process, all extinguished in the Messi inferno.
Public executions, anti-LGBT+ laws, male guardianship, the abusive kafala system governing the migrant workforce will barely make the foreign news agenda if Messi touches down for his Al-Hilal debut. The move also has the added benefit of kicking troublesome neighbour Qatar where it hurts, stealing the prize bauble from Qatari-owned Paris St Germain. The Qataris won’t mind so much should Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s third bid secure the world’s biggest football brand, Manchester United.
And on it goes until such a point that we are all jetting off to Riyadh, Jeddah or Mecca as merrily as we do London, Paris and Rome. Ultimately that is the purpose, to persuade the world to think of Saudi Arabia as we do regular destination venues visited by budget airlines.
Messi, Ronaldo, Newcastle, Manchester United et al are the soft-power battering rams that desensitise us to the reality of things. And dollar bills are the hard currency that make even the most hostile environments desirable to participants who would otherwise be on a plane to the United States to see out their careers.
Rather than team up with Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, Messi has been most strongly linked with Al-Hilal, Saudi Arabia’s most successful club by a considerable distance. They have won 18 league titles, twice as many as any of their rivals.
According to Spanish publication Sport, Al-Hilal are prepared to offer Messi £345m per season to play for them, a figure that dwarfs Ronaldo’s reported £175m contract.
Karim Benzema is also attracting attention from Saudi clubs after confirming his departure from Real Madrid after 14 years in the Spanish capital.
Barcelona
A Barcelona homecoming would be the romantic option, in contrast to the pragmatic choice of Al-Hilal.
Messi left Barcelona in 2021 due to the club’s chronic financial mismanagement under Josep Maria Bartomeu’s presidency and La Liga’s stringent tightening of salary rules, rather than of his own accord and a return would surely appeal.
Just as in 2021, though, the fiscal obstacles which stopped Barcelona from keeping Messi could prevent them from bringing him back in 2023.
La Liga will again demand that Barcelona slash their salary budget ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, by as much as €200m (£172m) to comply with its regulations. Much has been made of Barcelona’s financial gymnastics over the past 12 months, but reducing their budget, while adding the highest-earning footballer in the world to the squad may be one pulled lever too far.
Nevertheless, Barcelona look to be heading in a positive direction on the field once more after cruising to the La Liga title under Messi’s long-time team-mate Xavi. Unsurprisingly, he has made little secret of his desire to be reunited with the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“My priorities are very clear to the club,” Xavi said. “I don’t have to make them public, but it is true I’d like a lot that Messi returns.
“I’ve been in touch with him regularly and that’s why in the last few days I’ve said it depends on his decision too. Then, after Messi, the defensive midfielder [to replace Sergio Busquets] is the other priority we have.
“Those are the two main focuses we’ll have in the best-case scenario for the club in the transfer window.”
Lionel Messi next club odds
- Any Saudi club – evens
- Barcelona – 11-10
- Inter Miami – 6-1
- Man City – 25-1
- Chelsea – 33-1
- Napoli – 40-1
- Bayern Munich – 50-1
- Man Utd – 50-1
- Newcastle – 50-1
Odds via Skybet, correct as of 4 June
Inter Miami
Unfortunately, any prospect of an unlikely Messi x Phil Neville link-up in the magic city has been dashed after the former Manchester United defender was given the boot by his former teammate and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham last week.
Still, if Messi decides to head to the MLS, Inter Miami are regarded as his most likely destination, particularly if his former Barcelona and Argentina manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino is appointed as Neville’s successor. Javi Morales, another Argentine, is currently in charge on a temporary basis.
Since being formed five years ago, Inter Miami have sought to supplement their squad with Argentine talent, most notably by making Gonzalo Higuain their first marquee acquisition.
Higuain retired last year, but the squad still has a strong Argentine core with three in the current squad. Miami also has a sizeable Hispanic community.
Inter Miami would be unable to match the riches proposed by Al-Hilal, lack the emotional pull of Barcelona and are struggling on the field as they languish in last place in the MLS’ eastern conference.
But the lifestyle may appeal to Messi, who purchased a luxury apartment in the Florida city last year.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/NhnuxAY
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