The curious case of Marco Verratti
Did Marco Verratti fulfil his potential at Paris Saint-Germain?
As it turned out, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund did not get every deal they wanted over the line this summer.
Yet one of Europe's biggest names is nevertheless heading out to the Middle East. This time, though, it’s Qatar — and not Saudi Arabia — that is the destination for Marco Verratti.
The 30-year-old, who went straight from Pescara in Serie B to the bright lights of Paris Saint-Germain as a youngster, is heading to Al Arabi in Doha.
Despite being a key player last term, Verratti had not featured so far in 2023-24, and earlier in the summer failed to push through a move to big-spending Al Hilal, who signed his old team-mate Neymar along with Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Yassine Bounou and Malcom.
More Than A Game looks at what PSG are losing in Verratti and analyses the Italian's peculiar Parc des Princes legacy.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to More Than A Game to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.