Cristiano Ronaldo will NOT be joined by Lionel Messi in Saudi Arabia transfer in huge boost to Inter Miami pursuit
LIONEL MESSI is NOT set to join Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia this summer.
The former Manchester United ace penned a megabucks deal with Al-Nassr last month.
Messi, 35, was recently linked with an astonishing £306-million-a-year contract offer from Al-Nassr’s biggest rivals Al-Hilal.
General secretary of Saudi Arabia’s Football Federation Ibrahim Alkassim, however, has poured cold water on the potential arrival of Messi in the Middle East.
He told Spanish paper Marca: “At the moment we do not know anything about a possible Lionel Messi arrival.
“Although I do not hide that, as Saudi Federation, we would like to have him one day in the domestic league.
“The idea of the Federation is always to improve our football, and of course we would like to see Cristiano and Messi in the same league again.
“But the truth is that we don’t know anything now.”
Messi and Ronaldo recently faced off in a friendly between Paris Saint-Germain and a Saudi All-Star team in Riyadh – both scoring as the French champions ran out 5-4 winners.
The Argentine has been strongly linked with David Beckham’s MLS franchise Inter Miami, as well as former club Barcelona.
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But reports suggest that he is close to extending his deal with PSG.
It’s understood that Messi is eager to add to his tally of four Champions League trophies before leaving European football.
PSG are set to face Bayern Munich in this year’s round of 16.
A contract extension could be announced in the coming days.