“Through sport, you can sell your image”: after Ronaldo, why Saudi Arabia is betting everything on Messi

2023-05-10 08:30:56

200 million euros contract over two and a half years for Cristiano Ronaldo, and now double over… one year for his lifelong rival. By making an offer of more than 400 million euros to Lionel Messi, the Al-Hilal club is agitating the football world and speculation is rife around the Argentinian’s future. Above all, these staggering amounts, whose financial arrangements come from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, testify to an ever-stronger desire for Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the country, to place sport at the heart of his development strategy.