Lionel Messi has received an astonishing transfer offer from Saudi Arabia worth around £1 billion ($1.3 billion), reports say.

Foot Mercato claim that the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner could double Cristiano Ronaldo’s Middle Eastern salary if he agrees to the move. That deal would see him and Ronado renew their rivalry as Messi would line up for Al Hilal against Ronaldo’s Al Nassr.

However, Messi is said to prefer a move to Barcelona and the La Liga champions are said to have enlisted the help of David Beckham to lure the Argentina captain. According to L’Equipe, Barca are considering a plan which would see Beckham-owned Inter Miami sign the star before loaning him to Spain.

Messi’s loan would last for either six or 18 months before the star would move permanently to the MLS. He is believed to be almost certain to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer, and even missed the club’s title celebrations to attend a Coldplay gig in Barcelona.

And Barca boss Xavi appears increasingly confident of bringing Messi back to the club where he made his name. He told TV3.cat: “Our fans started to mention Leo Messi’s name at every game…I like the feeling but trust me, the comeback of Leo Messi only depends on him.

“I’d say that it depends 99 per cent on Messi. I have no doubts on football point of view; it’s up to Leo.”

It is even claimed by reporter Ben Jacobs that Messi would be willing to play for free in order to seal a return to Barcelona.

He wrote: “Messi would likely and gladly play for free for Barcelona or with a massive pay cut, but this would be deemed as financial manipulation.

“So Barcelona’s problem is they need a lot of dominos to fall in place to pull off a Messi return, and that may also mean outgoings.”

•  The Sun report