FC Barcelona Midfielder Set To Receive ‘Irresistible’ Saudi Offer

The Saudi government will try and convince an FC Barcelona midfielder to join one of their country’s clubs with an “irresistible offer” according to Mundo Deportivo.

News of Saudi Pro League outfits attempting to convince European football stars to up sticks to the Middle East currently dominates the transfer market.

At the turn of 2023, Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr with the reported €200 million ($219 million) he earns per year helping him top Forbes’ list of the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes last month.

Al-Nassr’s foes Al-Hilal offered Lionel Messi a €500 million ($547 million) a year deal according to COPE, which would have had him knock generational rival Ronaldo from the top of Forbes’ list.

In the end, however, the Argentine decided to join Inter Miami and snubbed former club FC Barcelona too.

Barca are currently in a race with Al-Nassr to buy Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.

At the weekend, the Catalans reportedly put in a bid of around €15 million ($16.4 million) for the Champions League finalist whereas Al-Nassr are offering €23 million ($25 million) to the Italians and the player €20 million ($22 million) per season according to transfer market expert Gianluca Di Marzio.

Brozovic apparently prefers a move to Barca and at least €30 million ($33 million) a year from the Saudis to make him choose them instead.

Before Barca made their interest more concrete for Brozovic, they had been reported as offering Kessie in a swap deal.

SPORT reported a fortnight ago that Barca want €35 million ($38.4 million) flat out for the Ivorian, who was the scorer of the winning goal in El Clasico back in March.

Over at Mundo Deportivo, however, they report that the Saudi government – which has control of the country’s four biggest clubs through the Public Investment Fund (PIF) – are preparing a “dizzying” offer for Kessie.

Kessie hasn’t received the proposal yet but will do in the coming days. Though he has been clear about his intention to stay at Barca, he will move on if told by Xavi Hernandez that the manager doesn’t count on him for the upcoming 2023/2024 season.

With ex-Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan joining Barca as announced by the club yesterday, this could now be the case as Xavi also has Pedri and Gavi in more attacking midfield positions to choose from.

Kessie has a contract until 2026 and would prefer a move to the Premier League or the Bundesliga if he has to leave.

He might be tempted by the big money on offer from Saudi Arabia, though, which has convinced the likes of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, and Kalidou Koulibaly to join its clubs amid a desire to strengthen the domestic league and make a bid to host the World Cup one day.

Potentially offloading Kessie would preferably be done before June 30 by Barca. This can help balance the budget and navigate strict Financial Fair Play limits, which have seen them sometimes struggle to register the contracts of new players or squad members that have renewed.