Lionel Messi to reject €400m/year offer from Saudi Arabia to stay in Europe, Barcelona ‘waiting to open talks’ - report

The rumors on Lionel Messi’s future continue to heat up as the GOAT looks more and more likely to not sign an extension and leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season. Barcelona are very much interested in a reunion, and the best football reporter around has an important update on Messi’s next steps.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Messi and his camp received an official offer from Saudi Arabia club Al Hilal worth more than 400 million euros a year in salary. It’s a remarkable amount of money that seems hard to turn down, but the World Cup winner is ready to do so and his “absolute priority is to stay in Europe”, Romano says.

It’s an encouraging update for Barça fans, since Messi isn’t accepting PSG’s offer but still wants to stay in Europe and Barça are the only team to have expressed strong interest so far.

But Fabrizio makes an important point: any move for Messi must fit within the complicated Financial Fair Play rules that Barça have to work with, but the club is working on several avenues to feel comfortable enough to send an official offer and open talks to bring the GOAT home.

Barça fans should be cautiously optimistic about Messi’s return, but there’s still a long way to go until that dream becomes a reality.