Al-Hilal wants Leo, that's why he's tempted - Corriere.it

The prayer of the muezzin mixes with the roar of the fans, while the Riyadh skyline lights up at sunset, behind the grandstands. Around the field, at the entrance to the teams, flames ten meters high evoke oil wells, just to remember who puts the money in. Thus begins the show in the desert, eye-catching and opulent, Saudi style, as they say around here. Leo Messi looks up and observes, a little puzzled, with that unmistakable expression that has been a successful meme on social media for years now. Three minutes later and the show however becomes his, with a play in a small area that sends half of the King Fahd Stadium into ecstasy. I'm Al-Hilal fans, who dream of his signingso that this Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo challenge is not really the last dance, but only the first duel of Arabia, in the next Riyadh derbies.

Difficult, but not impossible. Not with the money circulating around here, where Ronaldo got a salary of 500 million euros from Al Nassr to play for two and a half seasons, therefore 200 million a year. The friendly, which was already history here in Saudi Arabia, pitted the Argentine's PSG against a selection of the best players from Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, coached for the occasion by Marcelo Gallardo, an ambitious former coach of River Plate today stopped but eager to land in Europe. The other half of the stadium, precisely that of the Al-Hilal fans, made up for it in the 34th minute, when the Portuguese champion equalized by converting a penalty he had won in a crash test with the Parisian goalkeeper Navas.

The friendly, which really friendly was not given that there was also an expulsion (Bernat), ended 5-4 for the French, with another goal from CR7, that of the provisional 2-2, scored before going out to applause. Considering the technical difference, something more was expected from PSG, who had already won this match before starting: fielding the triad of dreams, Messi-Neymar-Mbapp, they collected a cachet of 10 million euros. Business, but also politics: Qatar, which de facto owns the Parisian club, after three years of embargo has returned to boasting excellent diplomatic and economic relations with Saudi Arabia. What Qatar has done in 13 years, since 2009 when it obtained the World Cup, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has done in much less time thanks to the Saudi Vision 2030 project which he launched in 2016 with the green light of his father , King Salman.

The decision to bring the Italian and Spanish Super Cups here is part of this strategy: sport as an accelerator of a project that aims to transform Saudi Arabia into the reference financial power of the area. sportwashing, according to human rights groups.

Mbs' goal is also to get his hands on the 2030 World Cup and it is clear that placing a testimonial like Cristiano in the window can make the difference. And if there were two jewels on display, even better. Even if you have it, Al-Hilal has offered Messi 300 million euros per season. His contract expires in June. Those close to him assure that he has thought about it seriously and continues to do so. Even if PSG immediately relaunched, putting on the table a more noble stage like that of the Champions League. A detail that is not a detail because, as demonstrated by the World Championship won a few hours' drive from here, Messi still does not intend to stop being Messi, unlike its lifelong rival. The time for easy challenges has not yet arrived for him.