Rumour Mongering: Verratti Offered to Liverpool

Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Reds’ interests might align with former PSG man’s.

With Martin Zubimendi getting cold feet and pulling out of a move that would see the Spaniard swap the beautiful rolling hills of the Basque country with a world class football environment, Liverpool’s central midfield remains unfortified, and as the Premier League season gets closer, exactly how the Reds will go about bolstering a position that has been identified as in need of additions remains unclear.

One potential short-term solution has fallen into the Reds’ lap today, as Marco Verratti has reportedly been offered up to the club, with the player looking for a way out of his Qatari adventure, having joined Al-Arabi last summer and finishing fifth in the Stars League, picking up a Team of the Tournament berth along the way.

A legitimate world class operator during his time at Paris Saint-Germain, Verratti was reportedly forced out by the Qatari-owned sportswashing asset last summer, and it is little surprise a swift return has been suggested, as despite a weekly wage in the €750k range, Verratti allegedly had a clause inserted in his contract that allowed him one day off from training every week in order to visit Paris.

Exactly how Verratti looks on the pitch after a year in a league with attendance numbers in the low thousands, maybe half a dozen good players and no world class coaching presence to speak of — Liverpool legend Igor Biscan notwithstanding, of course — is an open question, as is just how motivated the 31-year old is to put in the sort of work that would see him as a contributor in a Champions League level team once again, but if his years in the French capital are anything to go by, the Pescara-born midfielder is certainly capable of screening a defence, receiving the ball under pressure and moving it up the pitch.

At any point in the past decade, acquiring Marco Verratti would have been considered a scoop. Right now, though, it feels like a subpar last-minute solution to an avoidable problem.