Marco Verratti has finally sealed a move to Qatari League side Al Arabi, after much speculation that he was to leave Paris Saint Germain this summer.
The Italian midfielder was also speculated to be on Manchester United‘s radar, as they searched for a central midfielder to join their ranks.
L’Equipe and 90Min suggested that Verratti could have been a late-window option for Erik ten Hag’s side, but the club opted to go for Sofyan Amrabat instead of the Italian veteran.
It looked destined that the 30-year-old was on the way, like so many players, to the Saudi Pro League – but that isn’t to be the case, with confirmation today that he’ll be heading to the Qatar Stars League.
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Verratti to Qatar confirmed by Fabrizio Romano
Fabrizio Romano took to Twitter today to drop his trademark ‘Here we go!’ regarding the Varratti transfer.
A verbal agreement has been finally sealed with the Italian midfielder who’s set to sign a permanent deal with Al Arabi.
It is understood that Verratti will travel to Doha within the next 34 hours to finalise the move.
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PSG will receive €45m (£38.6m) for their troubles, with the fee having been agreed ten days ago.
Another European superstar moves to the Middle East… but this one is a little more peculiar.
The Qatari League has not been as built up as the Saudi League whatsoever and Verratti won’t even be playing against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, which is going to be strange for a player of his level.
He’s one of the greatest midfielders of this generation
Strange – as he still has a lot left to give. Verratti is a phenomenal player and would have been an asset to many big sides, including United.
Ex-Red Devil Ander Herrera is someone who speaks so highly of the little Italian.
“The best I have played with is (Marco) Verratti, but I have played with very good ones,” the Manchester United cult hero told Diario AS. “I put him at the level of Xavi and (Andres) Iniesta.”
To be put in the same bracket as those Barcelona legends is a huge compliment. It’ll be interesting to see if Verratti does ever come back to Europe one day.