The procession of top talent leaving Europe and heading for Saudi Arabia has been growing over the summer and Italian superstar Marco Verratti looks set to be the latest big name to seek out new frontiers in the Middle East.
The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder has already agreed a lucrative three-year deal with big-spending Al-Hilal, however, while personal terms between the player on his potential new employers have already been ironed out, a transfer fee with PSG has yet to be agreed.
According to the latest reports, the French champions have already rebuffed an offer of around £25m (€30m) for Verratti and the Parisians are believed to be holding out for a much higher bid from the Saudi Arabian outfit.
How much is Marco Verratti worth?
At 30-years-old, Italian midfielder Marco Verratti is still very much in his prime and when fit and firing, the deep-lying playmaker is widely considered to be one of the best players in the world in his position.
Verratti has had some injury issues in recent seasons, though he did manage to start 27 times in the league for PSG in 2022/23 during another title-winning campaign for France’s most dominant team.
PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi remains adamant that only a sizeable chunk of cash will convince him to sell Verratti to Al-Hilal and the club’s head honcho can point to several other deals this summer as a barometer of sorts for any potential switch for Verratti.
Declan Rice swapped West Ham for Arsenal this summer for a fee north of £100m and while the England international is six years younger than Verratti, the players are comparable in terms of the position they play, though many would argue that Verratti is the superior player. Indeed, the Italian has greater pedigree than Rice in terms of top-level experience.
Al-Hilal have already splurged €40m on Sergej Milinković-Savić and €55m on Ruben Neves this summer and objectively speaking, their €30m bid for Marco Verratti looks a little limp in comparison.
Verratti, who has been at PSG since 2021, still has three years to run on his current contract with the French giants, something that should strengthen Paris SG’s hand even further in negotiations.
Al-Hilal are unlikely to be put off by PSG’s demands however, an increased bid for Verratti is expected to be tabled soon.
Al-Hilal splashing the cash
Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal have been leading the Pro League’s lavish recruitment drive from the front this summer and their acquisition of Verratti would take their spending past the €200m mark during the current transfer window.
Alongside the captures of Sergej Milinković-Savić and Ruben Neves, Al-Hilal have also acquired Malcom from Barcelona for €60m and Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea for around €23m.
However, their most ambitious headhunt was knocked back when they made an audacious attempt to tempt PSG’s Kylian Mbappe to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Hilal are believed to have put a package together that would have paid the global superstar a salary of $700m to compete for just one season in the Pro League, while PSG were happy to accept an offer of over €200m for their star turn, who has just 12 months to run on his contract in France.
Mbappe was quick to end off Al-Hilal’s advances however, and a move to Real Madrid could be in the pipeline instead.
