da 888casino： Liverpool are continuing their midfield rebuild at Anfield this summer following the imminent exit of more players, and now a fresh update has emerged from a reliable source on the club's next transfer target.
What's the latest on Liverpool's interest in Marco Verratti?
da wazamba： According to Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol, Liverpool have been linked with the signing of Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti.
Kaveh revealed on Sky Sports News: "We’ve also been told that two Premier League clubs are interested in signing him.
"We’ve been told that those clubs were Liverpool and Chelsea.
"We haven’t been able to confirm that, it could just be a case of he’s a player that has been offered to Liverpool and Chelsea by intermediaries, by agents, by representatives who are trying to make some money from the deal, and they know that Chelsea and Liverpool are potentially looking for midfielders this summer."
How good is Marco Verratti?
Jurgen Klopp and sporting director Jorg Schmadtke have had to change their strategy for the remainder of the summer transfer window due to the unexpected departures of two of his most experienced midfielders in Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed yesterday that a full agreement was in place for the Liverpool captain to join Al-Ettifaq, whilst a move to the Saudi Pro League was also in the works for his Brazilian teammate.
As a result, there is now a real opportunity for Klopp to finish what he has started in his midfield refresh ahead of next season, by snapping up the services of Verratti to add even more fresh quality and talent into the centre of the pitch without compromising experience.
The PSG star has the much-needed winning mentality that has driven the success at Anfield over the last half a decade – collecting nine Ligue 1 titles, six Coupe de France trophies and the European Championship back in 2021 with Italy when they beat England in the final at Wembley.
Verratti – hailed "extraordinary" by Thomas Tuchel – is one of the most highly rated midfielders in Europe, ranking in the top 5% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues over the past year for passes attempted, pass completion, progressive passes and tackles per 90, as per FBref.
Not only that, but FBref considers the Italian machine's most comparable player over the last 12 months to be none other than Liverpool whiz Thiago Alcantara, with the pair sharing many similarities in their strengths and style of play.
In fact, the 30-year-old outperformed the Spaniard in a number of key attributes last season, including pass completion (92.6% v 86.2%), shot-creating actions per 90 (3.41 v 2.94), goal-creating actions per 90 (0.37 v 0.14) and aerial duels won (45.8% v 36.8%).
Unfortunately, their similarities don't end at their output, as Verratti is also extremely injury-prone – something that has also been a nightmare for Klopp when it comes to Thiago's availability over the last two seasons.
Since September 2021, the 32-year-old has had seven separate instances of injury amounting to 45 fixtures missed, whilst the Italy international has also had seven injury issues in the same period, though he has missed just 14 fixtures for the Ligue 1 champions.
It has been claimed that PSG will command a fee of €80m (£69m) to part ways with their midfield dynamo this summer – an expensive price tag that will require careful consideration from the powerbrokers at Anfield, taking into account both his age and injury record.
With that being said, there is no doubt that Verratti would bring huge quality to the Liverpool squad if a deal can be done with the French giants, however, it would be a huge investment on a player who doesn't offer reliability in fitness.