Marco Verratti may be the next global star to move to Saudi Arabia this summer. According to transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano, there is concrete interest in the Italian from that country. The journalist does not mention a club, already knows L’Equipe that it is about Al-Hilal. According to the famous sports newspaper, a delegation from the club is currently present in Paris in the hope of reaching an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain and Verratti. The midfielder is still with PSG until mid-2026, which means that the club seems to have a strong negotiating position.
Whether it will actually come from a switch remains to be seen. Al-Hilal tries to convince Verratti, but at this stage his possible arrival is labeled as ‘not easy’. In the coming days, the following talks will take place between Al-Hilal, PSG and Verratti. At an earlier stage, Rafaela Pimenta, Verratti’s agent, sparked rumors of a possible return to Italy at the end of May. “An Italian, sooner or later, always thinks about returning home,” she told Calciomercato. “He always wants to go there. I can’t say that doesn’t apply to him.”
Earlier this month, Italian media reported that Verratti is on AS Roma’s wish list. The club of coach José Mourinho would like to take him over on a rental basis with an option to buy and thinks they have a chance of success, because Verratti’s role at PSG is less prominent than in recent years. In response to those rumors, Pimenta made little effort to deny the rumors of a transfer to the Italian capital. “He’s on vacation now, let him be and then we’ll see,” she said Tuttomercatoweb. “The transfer window hasn’t even opened yet,” Pimenta later told Sky Sports. “I don’t want to say much about it. Decisions have to be made about his future, which is still uncertain. But it’s still early in the window.”
Should Verratti opt for a switch to Al-Ahli, he will become a teammate of Kalidou Koulibaly and Rúben Neves at that club. They came over from the Premier League earlier this summer. Saudi football is on the rise. In 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo was brought in as the new star of Al-Nassr, but especially in the summer of 2023, one star after another is associated with a move to the Middle East. Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté have already exchanged their clubs Real Madrid and Chelsea for Al-Hilal, while it also seems to be a matter of time before the transfers of Hakim Ziyech and Édouard Mendy, among others, are confirmed. Verratti has been playing for PSG since the summer of 2012 and has since made 416 appearances for the club, winning nine national championships.