Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti will join Qatari club Al-Arabi in a deal worth €45 million, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Al-Arabi and PSG agreed a deal a few days ago, and the Qatar club has now finalised everything for the Italian maestro to join them.
Verratti has been deemed surplus to requirement at PSG by head coach Luis Enrique, and the club has forced the player out after 11 years of service.
The 30-year-old midfielder joined Les Parisiens as a teenager before becoming a mainstay at the club.
The former Pescara playmaker has made 416 appearances for PSG, bagging 11 goals and 61 assists.
Verratti leaves PSG as the player with the most trophies for the club. He has won nine Ligue 1 titles, six Coupe de France, six Coupe de la Ligue and nine French Super Cups.
He also helped them reach the 2019/20 Champions League final.
However, with PSG undergoing a drastic reshuffle this summer, Verratti was one of the expendables.
The Ligue 1 champions are undergoing a radical change in philosophy that has seen them let go of top stars Neymar, Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos.
PSG’s hierarchy wanted to bring in more French national team players, and sporting director Luis Campos headed the summer dealings.
They decided to sign hungrier players, acquiring Lucas Hernandez, Milan Skriniar, Goncalo Ramos, Randal Kolo Muani, Ousmane Dembele, Manuel Ugarte, Xavi Simons, Bradley Barcola, Marco Asensio and more in a bid to restructure the club.
PSG will hope to see results after their summer of structural change. They will also hope that their operations will encourage Kylian Mbappe to stay as he enters the final year of his contract.
