Ex-PSG star Marco Verratti's former agent divulges details of the midfielder's failed move to Barcelona in 2017
Marco Verratti’s former agent Donato Di Campli has claimed that Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) locked the midfielder in a room after Barcelona showed interest in signing him in 2017. Di Campli added that PSG forced Verratti to part ways with him and promised they would do everything the Italian wanted to extend his deal with the club.
Di Campli claimed that PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi threatened him if he kept pushing for the move to Camp Nou. He added that the Ligue 1 giants forced the midfielder to change agents, and thus, Verratti joined hands with the late Mino Raiola.
"In Paris the players are imprisoned, you never do what they want but the club; it's a prison and there is blackmail. PSG's attitude is always blackmail. We had decided to go to Barcelona. That, obviously, the emir did not like. Al Khelaifi even told me that if I kept trying to do the operation with Barca, Verratti was going to let me (go). And that's how it ended up happening. I'm sure Marco was scared, he won't admit it, but that's how it is," Di Campli told Relevo.
"From the day he arrived, Verratti was in jail. When we spoke with Barcelona in 2017, PSG met him several times, they told him that they were going to sign Neymar, that they were going to do a project around him... If you go against them everything becomes something personal. The ex-president [Josep Maria] Bartomeu did not stop calling Al Khelaifi and he never, never answered the phone," the former agent continued.
"My experience with them is very bad, very bad. They only care about money. It's a club that has no soul. They don't let them leave because the emir and Al Khelaifi think that everything is 'buyable', that they can conquer the world with money alone. But it has already been seen that it is not possible," he added.
Marco Verratti went on to play 416 matches across competitions for PSG before leaving for Qatari outfit Al-Arabi this summer.
Marco Verratti forced out of PSG by former Barcelona manager
Marco Verratti was forced to leave PSG this summer after Luis Enrique took over as the new manager. The former Barcelona boss told the Italian that he did not count on him and asked him to leave the club.
L'Equipe reported that the Italy international was asked to train away from PSG's first team. The report added that Enrique had no plan to include Verratti from the very start and it was not a decision after seeing him in training.
The midfielder moved to Qatari side Al-Arabi SC this summer for a €45 million fee.