Barcelona are in talks about a lucrative December friendly in Riyadh against Al Hilal and the Saudi Arabia giants have demanded the presence of Lionel Messi, according to reports.

The winter break provides an annual opportunity for the La Liga champions to cash in on their enormous global pull. They have a recent tradition of heading to the Middle East at that time, with 2016’s 5-3 win against Al Ahli Jeddah in Doha the last example.

Mundo Deportivo has stated that negotiations have opened with the Crescent to set-up the game. Barca would charge a “significant amount” of money to feature and the players would take home a bonus.

If agreed, this would be the second time that UAE superstar Omar Abdulrahman has played them. He was a guest player for Ahli in December 2016’s clash and is spending 2018/19 at Hilal.