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Al Ittihad president Anmar Al-Haili has confessed that he was shock to see Lionel Messi turn down a mouth-watery €1.4bn offer from the club last year.
Recall that the Saudi club went for Messi as he was leaving PSG, though the Barcelona great ultimately signed with Inter Miami.
However, in a chat with TribalFootball, Al-Haili stated that the Argentina star preferred to stay close to his family than get carried away by money.
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“We made him an offer of €1.4bn. But he refused because his family wanted to go to the United States. I was surprised, I didn’t believe a player could refuse such a big offer for the sake of his family.
“We respect him, because family is more important than money.”
Last December, Messi himself spoke about the possibility of joining the Saudi Pro League.
“I had several options on the table. I had to analyze them and think about them with my family, before making the decision to come to Miami. My first option was to return to Barcelona, but it wasn’t possible. I tried to return, but it didn’t happen. It’s true that after that I thought a lot about going to the Saudi league: they have created a very strong competition, which could become an important championship in the near future.
“As an ambassador for Saudi Arabian tourism, it was a destination that attracted me, because it is a country that I have visited and that I like but also for the growth of the championship and the efforts made to create a high-level competition.”
2 Comments
Quality human being!
Footballer extraordinaire!!
Role model par excellence!!!
Comports himself with class and dignity.
Did not respond even when his coach the late Diego Maradona criticized him after Argentina’s unsuccessful World Cup outing in Germany in 2006, saying of Messi, ”he has no personality.”
Hahahaha….first and foremost, Maradona was not his coach in 2006.
Secondly, Messi was a mere 18 year old in 2006.
Thirdly Argentina coached by Maradona crashed out of the WC in 2010 without Messi scoring a goal, despite also struggling to qualify (including a 6-1 loss to Bolivia during the qualifying series), yet Maradona the coach never threw any of his players under the bus in a desperate bid to save his job.
Fourtly, the exact quote was that ‘He’s a really good person, but he has no personality’, a response to Pele’s inquiry of how a quiet fellow like Messi manages to handle being captain of Argentina. So it was never said in bad taste.
Not like a failed incompetent coach who lies against his own players for fear of joblessness.
Next time you want to lie to us to rubbish a player, find a better way to do it.