Messi is heading to the US as Saudi Arabia kicks off bidding war with MLS for aging soccer stars
Karim Benzema — taking the money and running into the box. AP Photo/Hussein Malla The announcements on consecutive days that the storied Real Madrid and France soccer star Karim Benzema is joining the Saudi Pro League and that Lionel Messi, thought by many to be soccer’s GOAT, intends to play in the United States’ Major League Soccer may mark the beginning of a new international bidding war for superannuated soccer stars. MLS has for many years been recruiting aging talent from big European clubs, but the Saudi interest is new. Benzema’s move to Al-Ittihad – costing more than US$200 million