According to reports from Le Parisien via the Daily Mail, Marco Verratti is a target for Manchester City this summer.
This summer, who is Man City bringing in?
The Premier League team has clinched a second championship, with Pep Guardiola’s team passing Arsenal to finish strongly. The club will have their sights set firmly on adding an FA Cup and Champions League to that haul before the season is over, making a total of seven top-flight trophies won by the club since the Premier League’s inception.
Five Premier League championships have already been won by the club during Guardiola’s tenure at the Etihad Stadium, but the Champions League is still out of reach. It gives the former Barcelona manager a chance to finally make amends for City with a final against Inter looming soon.
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But the team might lose some of its most crucial players before the start of the following season. Ilkay Gundogan, who has been a member of the team for seven years, appears to be on the verge of leaving because his contract is up. The newest team to express interest in him is Arsenal, who might try to sign him this summer.
This would leave City with a hole in the middle of the pitch, which, according to recent reports, Marco Verratti could fill. According to the Daily Mail, the PSG player is indeed on the club’s radar, and they have already enquired about the player’s availability in advance of a potential transfer. The report does, however, add that the Italian would prefer to stay in Paris if he could and may try to fight for his position there rather than look for new pastures during the transfer window, despite interest in his services.
Marco Verratti relocating to Manchester City?
Over the past few years, the midfielder has made a name for himself as one of the most dependable options in Ligue 1 and perhaps all of football.
Verratti’s game is not about scoring goals or providing assists, as he has done neither this season for PSG in the league. The player controls games from the middle of the field, stopping opposition breaks and then passing the ball with razor-sharp vision and range to one of his teammates. He averages 2.5 tackles per game and a pass success rate of just over 92%. His campaign-long WhoScored rating of 6.97 attests to that as well; only four PSG players received ratings higher.
Even his teammate Lionel Messi has praised him highly, calling the Italian a “phenomenon” and demonstrating how highly regarded he is.
Verratti, who CIES Football Observatory values at €15 million (£13 million), would be a great addition to the Man City team if they were able to engineer a deal for him. However, if he decides to stay in Paris, PSG should be pleased given the calibre of his talent.
