Lionel Messi has reportedly been offered between €5 and €6 million annually to switch from Samsung to Huawei as his mobile phone sponsor.

According to Marketing Deportivo, the 28-year-old is set to strike a two or three-year contract with Huawei, who already have Real Madrid's James Rodriguez in its stable.

Barcelona won't stand to benefit from the deal, which is set to be officially agreed "in the coming days," as they don't own Messi’s image rights.

Messi already has deals with a range of companies including Adidas, Pepsi and EA Sports. As for Huawei, securing a deal with Messi would represent another step for China on their road to becoming a global force in football.

In recent years, China has emerged as a player in the transfer market with more and more foreign players heading to its top clubs. 

The resport says that the agreement will be made official this week by Huawei.

Source: bleacherreport

Proofread by John Devlin.