Lionel Messi wife 'did not want move to Saudi Arabia' as he snubs Riyadh for Miami

The wife of Lionel Messi did not want to move to Saudi Arabia, a French sports news site said on Wednesday, leading the Argentine football star to join a team in the US.

Antonella Messi wanted to return to the Spanish city of Barcelona, whose namesake football team her husband was part of for 17 years before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, L’Equipe reported.

Messi, whose contract with PSG runs out on 30 June, had been weighing up lucrative multiple offers - including a deal to join a team in Saudi Arabia’s Pro League, where rival Cristiano Ronaldo is playing.

He is also a tourism ambassador for Saudi Arabia, making several high-profile visits to the kingdom over the past year.

But Messi snubbed the Saudi offers, instead choosing to move to Inter Miami, a team owned by David Beckham and part of the US’ Major League Soccer, in a deal of unspecified length reportedly worth up to $100 million a year.

Riyadh-based Al-Hilal had reportedly raised its offer to a mind-boggling $1.5 billion in a last-ditch attempt to entice Messi to the Gulf state, but to no avail.

Messi had reportedly said that he most wanted a return to Barcelona — but the La Liga heavyweights’ less than healthy financial state meant that they were unable to even approach the Saudi and US offers.

Barcelona said in a statement published on Wednesday that the Argentine player’s agent and father had informed them of Messi's decision to join Inter Miami earlier in the week, "in consideration of the desire of both FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi for him to once again wear blaugrana".

Saudi Arabia has orchestrated a massive push to get some of the world’s best players, particularly those nearing retirement, to join its top-flight football league.

The Gulf state is also planning on a massive overhaul of the Saudi Pro League with its investment fund set to take a stake in the kingdom's four biggest clubs and their privatisation.

Riyadh has said the moves are part of Saudi Vision 2030, its grand strategy to wean its economy off oil by the end of this decade.

When announcing the privatisation project this week, it said it wanted the Saudi Pro League to be among the 10 best domestic football leagues in the world.

Though it has already managed to snap up world-class footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, Messi’s rejection of the offers could well deal a blow to the Saudi project’s momentum.

It is also unclear how Messi’s decision not to move to the Gulf state will impact his position as a Saudi tourism ambassador.