Veratti apologises to PSG amidst Barca interest

PSG midfielder Marco Veratti released a statement via his club website where he spoke out on recent speculation surrounding his future.

He apologized for his agent speaking out on his behalf and said that “it's not my way of thinking, not my words. He works for me, and I want to apologise to the club, the fans, the people who work here.”

He also reiterated that he is very happy to have started pre-season and get back to the club.

Marco Veratti has been heavily linked with FC Barcelona in recent weeks.

In an interview with sport, Barcelona president Joseph Bartomeu confirmed that the club wants to sign the Italian midfielder. He however conceded that it would be difficult to sign the Italian midfielder.

Bartomeu told sport: “Verratti is a player we like. Robert [Fernandez] wants him to come, as do [Ernesto] Valverde and Pep] Segura. And we know that the player wants to come to Barca.

“The problem is that PSG have now told us they don’t want to negotiate. The fact there is no release clause is a problem because you can’t go there and sign a player.

“For that reason, if the club don’t want to sell, as is the case here: ‘we don’t want to sell, we don’t want to sit down with you, we will talk about whatever you want, but not about Verratti.”

Veratti’s statement comes at a time when many believed that the 24-year-old would want a move to a club like FC Barcelona.

The precedent for PSG making this statement lies in what Veratti’s agent told the media.

Veratti’s agent told Il Corriere dello Sport in Italy: "PSG president Al Khelaifi has told me that if they sell Marco they would never forgive him in Doha." 

"Taking Verratti to Barcelona would be like taking [Francesco] Totti away from Roma.”

"It's about Doha, where the sovereign of Qatar is based and he, among many other things, owns PSG. The fund is led by Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, whose financial resources are unlimited. Not selling Verratti to Barcelona for €100m has become a matter of pride.

"Marco knows perfectly what his contractual obligations to PSG are, but it is natural that he is attracted by the prospect of playing for Barcelona. Who wouldn't be at the age of 24 in the season which runs up to the World Cup?”