Man United in shock swoop for £250,000-a-week Italy star to solve midfield crisis amid yesterday disappointing loss
Manchester United are moving to signing Paris Saint-Germain’s Marco Verratti to strengthen their midfield.
That is according to L’Equipe (via PSGTalk), who claim that The Red Devils have “come forward” in the last few days to express their interest in the Italian playmaker.
Also in the picture are Bayern Munich, although as things stand, Verratti will be leaving European football altogether.
The diminutive midfielder has already agreed personal terms with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli, who are yet to reach an accord with PSG.
That leaves the door open for Bayern and United to make an approach, and while neither are likely to offer the same level of financial windfall, the chance to stay in Europe could appeal.
At 30 years of age, Verratti still has plenty to offer at the top level of the game and has plenty of experience as a world class player.
His passing range and phenomenal press resistance are exceptional facets of his game, while he is far from shy of getting mud on his boots, with the Italy star enjoying the defensive side of the game.
Man United would benefit from having a natural deep playmaker in their squad, with Christian Eriksen the only midfielder in the squad comfortable creating from deep.
However, Verratti would come with plenty of issues that Erik ten Hag could really do without. His injury record is far from encouraging, for example.
Last season alone, he missed a total of 42 days due to various injuries, according to Transfermarkt. During his time in Paris, he has never once finished a season with more than thirty league starts.
That kind of record does not bode well for a player on the wrong side of thirty, and for the money he would cost – PSG are though to want in excess of £25m before getting into the reported £252,000-a-week in wages he currently commands – Ten Hag would probably be better off looking elsewhere.
It would be little surprise if this link came from PSG themselves, as a bid to put pressure on Al-Ahli to up their offer.