Transfer imminent
In Marco Verratti, Paris Saint-Germain are set to lose their longest-serving player. According to a report by L’Équipe and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the Italian is now set to join Qatari side Al-Arabi SC. The 30-year-old midfielder is expected to travel to Qatar in the next 24 hours to complete his medical and sign his contract. Once completed, Verratti will become the most expensive transfer in the history of the Qatar Stars League. PSG will receive €45 million plus €5m in performance-based add-ons.
Despite a contract until 2026, Verratti hasn’t been training with PSG and has also canceled his appearances with the Italian national team to solve his sporting future. That future, like that of many of his former PSG teammates, is on the Arabian Peninsula.
PSG used its connections to the Arabian world to receive €123m in transfer fees for Neymar, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Abdou Diallo. The club will now receive an initial €45m for Verratti. Julian Draxler could be the next candidate to be sold to Al-Arabi. In 2022, the Qatari club already signed Rafinha before making moves for Diallo and Verratti in 2023. PSG have received €194m in transfer fees this summer—€168m came from clubs based in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Neymar, Ronaldinho & Co.: PSG record sales at a glance
PSG’s ability to offload players for high transfer fees to clubs based on the Arabian Peninsula hasn’t been unnoticed by the competition. According to a report by The Athletic, Dortmund’s chief financial officer, Thomas Treß, has criticized PSG’s behavior at the general assembly of the European Club Association (ECA). The Neymar deal with Al-Hilal has been criticized. Neymar was sold for €90m, which was significantly above his market value and has been viewed as a way to outmaneuver Financial Fair Play regulations. The Ligue 1 champion spent €349.5m on new players this summer. PSG boss Nasser Al-Khelaïfi wasn’t present when Treß made his statement, and Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke later allegedly apologized to his Qatari colleague for the comments.
Qatar instead of Bayern or Chelsea: Verratti set to leave PSG
While PSG are able to generate a significant transfer fee by selling the 30-year-old to Qatar, Verratti seems to have overplayed his hand this summer. Financially, Verratti will certainly increase his yearly salary of €15m that he earned at PSG—but from a sporting perspective, the transfer to the QSL is a big step down.
Especially when one considers the clubs that were interested in Verratti; according to a report by L’Équipe, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Barcelona all made offers this summer. But the offers didn’t meet PSG’s demands. PSG boss Al-Khelaïfi reportedly demanded around €100m initially, which was too much even for clubs from Saudi Arabia. Al-Khelaïfi then reduced his demands to €70m, which was still too much for Saudi clubs. In fact, no club based in Riad was willing to spend more than €45m on the player.
The transfer window in Europe closed on Sep.1 and then on Sep. 7 in Saudi Arabia. That only left Qatar as a possible destination for Verratti. The window for clubs from the QSL remains open until Sep. 18, enough time then for PSG to offload the Italian. Once complete, Verratti will leave PSG after having played 416 games for the club—21 more, and he would have become the club’s record player.
Homepage