Barcelona are looking to bring back Lionel Messi this summer but won’t be able to rely on cash to convince him. According to Jaume Roures, the race for his signature is the biggest offer any footballer has ever received.
Roures, who heads Mediapro and holds the broadcasting rights for La Liga, revealed to Cadena SER that the offer for Messi had increased.
Previous reports had put the figure at around 400 million euros for a two-year contract, but Roures stated that they had increased their offer by an additional 100 million euros and would be willing to pay that much for just one year of Messi.
So 500 million euros for just one year of contract. Unimaginable.
The Al Hilal team has been talked about as a candidate for Messi, but there are different clubs that could pay for him, Roures said.
These startling numbers are hard to fathom. For context, Barcelona are thought to be offering somewhere around €14 million a year for Messi, over 35 times less than Roures claims Messi would earn in the Middle East.
The Blaugrana were never likely to rely on cash to persuade Messi to return to the country he called home for two decades, but it is a stunning turnaround all the same.
Asked about the issue earlier in the week, Barcelona president Joan Laporta dismissed the idea that Messi might want to play in Saudi Arabia instead of Barcelona.
Ultimately, it’s a futile debate until Barcelona take the leap from La Liga on their sustainability plan and are able to make signings once again.