Barcelona Rumors: Marco Verratti Informs PSG He Wants to Join Barça
Looks like Barcelona just received a much-needed boost in their pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain's (PSG) Marco Verratti.
According to Goal, Verratti has informed PSG of his intention to leave this summer because he wants to join a club "who can compete with the very best in Europe." Well, he's obviously referring to Barcelona and the Catalan club is reportedly preparing a €100 million (around £88 million) bid for the central midfielder.
"Reports claim the Italy international has specifically asked to join Barca, with them having made Verratti their top target following the arrival of new manager Ernesto Valverde," Loic Tanzi and Ignasi Oliva wrote in their report for Goal.
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"Verratti's agent, Donato Di Campli, met with new PSG sporting director Antero Henrique on Monday to express his client's wish to leave and to make clear it was nothing to do with finances," they added.
Ligue 1 giants PSG are currently one of the top clubs in France, but they have never made it far in the Champions League even when they had Zlatan Ibrahimović and Edinson Cavani leading the charge in the past few years. If Verratti is dreaming of Champions League glory then he should join a club like Barcelona. Barça can certainly give Verratti what he wants and they have the experience and personnel to compete against the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Signing Verratti isn't going to be easy, though, because PSG will do everything possible to hold on to the midfielder.
According to the report, PSG are going to offer Verratti a new contract and they promise to build a squad that can compete with the best in Europe. It is believed that PSG will still refuse to sell him to Barça even if he rejects the contract because they think he is worth more than €100 million.
Verratti would be a great signing for Barcelona, but they would have to find a way to convince PSG to sell him. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, PSG want at least €150 million for the midfielder.
