Marco Verratti 'agrees terms' with Al-Ahli as European giant hovers

Stuart Telford

• 20 Aug 2023 12:06 BST
• 3 min read

Marco Verratti has agreed personal terms with Al-Hilal but the Saudi Pro League side and Paris Saint-Germain are yet to agree a fee for the Italy midfielder.

Verratti has been a PSG mainstay since arriving from Pescara as a teenager back in 2012, but there is a changing of the guard underway in the French capital this summer, with Neymar having already left for Al-Hilal.

Luis Enrique also dropped club captain Marquinhos for PSG's season opener against Lorient, while Kylian Mbappe's future remains unclear, despite the fact he made a goalscoring return against Toulouse on Saturday.

READ: BOMBSHELL: Neymar to leave PSG - along with four other stars

PSG are loath to lose Mbappe on a free next summer have seen Lionel Messi leave for David Beckham's Inter Miami by the same means this, with the spectre of UEFA's FFP rules hanging over them.

'Agreement reached'

The fee appears to be the sticking point between them and Al-Hilal, who paid €90 million for Neymar.

"Al-Ahli have reached an agreement with the Italian and hope to succeed in doing the same with the Parisian club quickly," report l'Equipe. "Al-Hilal had also agreed with the midfielder but their offer of €30m was deemed insufficient by PSG.

READ: Man Utd given chance to sign ULTIMATE Harry Maguire upgrade

"In Europe, several clubs, including Bayern Munich, have also shown interest in Verratti."

Verratti is valued at €31.1m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, but has an ETV of €52.8m, and is understood Paris will look for a fee closer to the latter figure.

Those kinds of numbers might price Bayern out of the race for Verratti's signature. The record German champion can spend big in general, but have already done so this summer in bringing Harry Kane and Kim Min-jae to the club from Tottenham Hotspur and Napoli respectively.