According to the respect French publication L’Equipe, Marco Verratti dropped a bombshell on Paris Saint-Germain this weekend by telling the club’s sporting director Antero Henrique that he wants to leave this summer.
The 24-year-old has spent the last five years at the Parc des Princes, after joining the oil-rich French club from Pescara in 2012, and has developed into one of Europe’s best central midfielders during that time.
News that Verratti plans to leave PSG this summer has alerted the attention of Europe’s top clubs - and a battle for his signature is now expected to take place ahead of the start of the 2017-18 campaign, which gets underway in two month’s time.
It seems Verratti has become disillusioned with life at PSG following a hugely disappointing season for the Ligue 1 outfit.
Not only did they lose out on the French league title to AS Monaco, but they also crashed out of the Champions League in the last 16 after throwing away a remarkable 4-0 first leg victory over Barcelona.
Unai Emery’s side were beaten 6-1 in the second leg at the Camp Nou as Barça completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in football history.
Why Verratti wants to leave PSG
Verratti, according to L’Equipe’s report, is not “completely satisfied professionally” at PSG and is now seeking a new challenge elsewhere.
Verratti has decided which club he wants to join
And the Spanish newspaper Marca understand the Italy international has decided which club he wants to join.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Verratti is reportedly keen to become Barcelona’s new star midfielder.
The report states that Verratti will aim to force through a move to the Camp Nou - and this is something the Catalan giants value.
PSG could make things difficult
However, securing his services will be far from straightforward.
For starters, PSG’s owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi doesn’t sell his best players.
It will be down to Verratti to convince the club it’s in their best interests to cash in.
If that happens, Barcelona would then need to pay PSG a fee in the region of €80 million to €100 million to complete the deal.
Barcelona's move for Bellerin could be affected
This, in turn, would mean they would no longer have the funds available to sign Hector Bellerin from Arsenal. Barça would subsequently need to consider cheaper alternatives for the Spanish full-back.
However, you suspect Barcelona fans won’t particularly care which right-back they end up with if Verratti joins their club.