In the summer of 2017, Barcelona have tried bringing Verratti to Camp Nou, and the player wanted the agreement to happen.
In 2017, Marci Verratti tried to move to Barca
Donato Di Campli, the former agent of Marco Verratti, has revealed the details of the Italian’s disastrous transfer to Barcelona in 2017. In the summer of 2017, Barcelona have tried bringing Verratti to Camp Nou, and the player wanted the agreement to happen. Still, Di Campli explained how PSG thwarted the move, which led to the separation of the two Italians. “When Barcelona contacted me, I asked him what we should do,” Di Kampli told reporters. “He said we should talk to them. PSG was not very good at the time, and I asked him, ‘Are we staying or are we leaving?’ And he said, ‘Okay, let’s try something different.'” However, it was not easy for a couple of them as the French club had no intention of selling one of their valuable assets.
The Italian player chose not to fight
Moreover, PSG ‘invited’ Verratti to go on video stating that he wants to stay, although he did not. “The club asked him to do it. Verratti wanted to move to Barcelona and play with Leo Messi, become a champion, which is different from being a great player,” said the former agent. “Paris Saint-Germain are one of the biggest clubs in the world, but they play in a weak league. I told Marco that if he wants to be champion, he needs to move, which is nothing against PSG. But it’s easier to be champion at Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid. When it became clear that the French club would not make exiting an easy task, Verratti chose not to fight, fearing reprisals that might come his way.
“When he realized it was impossible, he got scared,” said Di Kampli. “He didn’t want to be ostracized and not play. When he returned to Paris, they told him ‘We’re going to sign Neymar and renew your deal, but you need to change agent.'” And that’s what happened when Di Kampli lost his client. “Marco was forcing me to pressure for a move, fighting for a transfer to Barcelona, but he got cold feet,” said Di Kampli.