Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal reportedly ‘had private jets waiting in Paris’ to fly Lionel Messi back to Riyadh prior to his decision to join Inter Miami.

After much speculation about his future, the seven-time Ballon dO’r snubbed a gigantic £2billion move to Saudi Arabia and a return back to his former club Barcelona, by confirming that he will be moving to play in Major League Soccer for David Beckham’s Inter Miami.

According to CBS Sports, that Al-Hilal reportedly ‘had private jets waiting in Paris for Messi and in Barcelona for his father Jorge’ ready to take the pair to Riyadh.

It comes as Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema also completed a move to the Saudi Pro League this week, joining up with Al-Ittihad in an enormous £258million deal that will see the 35-year-old join for three years and earn a whopping £86m per season.

He’ll also be joined by his compatriot and fellow World Cup winner N’Golo Kante who today completed a medical in London ahead of a move to Al-Ittihad.

The Chelsea midfielder is set to join the club for two years on a contract that is worth £172m.