<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Argentine superstar Lionel Messi will play in Saudi Arabia next season under a "huge" deal, a source close to the negotiations told AFP on Tuesday.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>"Messi is a done deal. He will play in Saudi Arabia next season," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity and without naming the club.</div><div><br></div><div>"The contract is exceptional. It's huge. We are just finalising some small details," added the source, who is not authorised to speak to media.</div><div><br></div><div>Asked about the comments, Messi's current club Paris Saint-Germain simply noted he remains under contract until June 30.</div><div><br></div><div>A separate PSG source said: "If the club had wanted to renew his contract, it would have been done earlier."</div><div><br></div><div>The 35-year-old World Cup winner was suspended by Qatari-owned PSG last week for an unauthorised trip to Saudi, where he is a tourism ambassador.</div><div><br></div><div>Messi's expected arrival in the oil-rich kingdom follows in the footsteps of his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr in a massive deal in January.</div><div><br></div><div>Ronaldo's agreement to June 2025 is said to total more than 400 million euros ($439million), making him the world's highest paid athlete according to Forbes.</div><div><br></div><div>Both deals are being bankrolled by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds with more than $620 billion in assets, the source said.</div><div><br></div><div>"The negotiations didn't take as much time as the ones with Ronaldo. As we now know the recipe to contract world-class players," said the source.</div><div><br></div><div>"It's Saudi Arabia that brought him not a specific club. The Money comes from one place -- PIF."</div><div><br></div><div>Ronaldo's arrival has not had the impact Al Nassr would have hoped for on the pitch.</div><div><br></div><div>They have lost top spot in the Saudi Pro League table and are out of the running in the King's Cup and Super Cup.</div><div><br></div><div>French coach Rudi Garcia departed in April.</div><div><br></div><div>- PSG protesters -</div><div><br></div><div>Messi, who turns 36 in June, has had two lacklustre seasons in Paris after a glorious era at Barcelona where he won four Champions League and 10 La Liga titles, and is still worshipped by the fans.</div><div><br></div><div>The record seven-time world player of the year, joining a mouth-watering attack featuring Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, scored just 11 goals in his first season as he helped PSG to a routine Ligue 1 title.</div><div><br></div><div>But PSG have got no closer to a coveted maiden Champions League victory, bowing out twice in the last 16 even with the illustrious Argentine in the line-up.</div><div><br></div><div>Frustrations boiled over last week when black-clad PSG protesters let off flares and sang hostile chants targeting the underperforming Messi, Neymar and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti.</div><div><br></div><div>The angry scenes contrasted with Messi's career-crowning moment in December, when he led Argentina to a breathless World Cup final victory over Mbappe and France in Doha to fill the biggest gap in his resume.</div><div><br></div><div>Qatar's emir draped him in a traditional bisht robe at the trophy ceremony, a reminder of the fossil-fuel riches pouring into football and Messi's bank account via PSG.</div><div><br></div><div>However, Messi is also a highly paid tourism ambassador for Qatar's neighbours and sometime rivals Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter that is attempting to diversify its largely single-stream economy. - AFP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>