Saudi soccer chief denies rumours of Lionel Messi following Cristiano Ronaldo to SPL

Ibrahim Alkassim, the General Secretary of the Saudi Football Federation denied rumours of Argentine celebrity Lionel Messi following the footsteps of everlasting rival Cristiano Ronaldo and becoming a member of a Saudi Premier League (SPL) membership subsequent summer season, in accordance with a Marca report as per the Daily Mail. He, nevertheless, stated that he would love for the World Cup winner to play within the SPL within the close to future.

“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,” he advised Marca.

‘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 something now,’ he added.

Every week in the past, it was reported that Al-Hilal and Al Itihad are prepared to pay the Argentine round 350 million euros per season and have additionally requested for assist from the federal government in order that they will make the provide.

On Thursday, Ronaldo and Messi transported followers again in time to the heyday of their storied rivalry, as each forwards obtained on the scoresheet in an exhibition match earlier than Hugo Ekitike earned 10-man PSG a 5-4 win over the Riyadh Season Team.

While the match could not have a lot significance for the groups concerned, soccer followers world wide obtained loads of bang for his or her buck as a narrative that has dominated the game for over a decade appeared to come back to an finish in a memorable goalfest.

In an action-packed first half on the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, objectives from Messi and Marquinhos had been cancelled out by a Ronaldo brace, whereas PSG’s Juan Bernat was despatched off for a lunging sort out on Saudi worldwide Salem Al-Dawsari.

Both groups saved their foot on the gasoline within the second half, however Ekitike’s 78th-minute strike finally made the distinction on the night time.