Manchester City have reportedly set their sights on securing a potential summer transfer move for Marco Verratti.
As things stand, current Citizens midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is set to see his contract at the Etihad Stadium expire at the end of next month.
With the risk of seeing the 32-year-old wave goodbye to the club in the summer, it has been claimed that City have got another experienced midfielder on their transfer radar.
City make Verratti enquiry
According to a recent report from French media outlet Le Parisien, City have made an enquiry over the availability of the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder and could look to make a move for him once the summer transfer window opens.
With 414 appearances for the French club under his belt, the Italian has scored 11 goals, provided 61 assists and won numerous domestic trophies.
The 30-year-old has previously caught the attention of Pep Guardiola, who had this to say about Verratti and his performance against the Manchester club back in September 2021 during PSG’s 2-0 Champions League win over the Citizens.
He said: “I’m in love with him. He is exceptional. Even under pressure, he manages to find those passes that allow the midfield to be free.
“He’s not a player for long passes but you can always count on him to build the game. We managed to control him better in the second half but in the first half he was really exceptional.”
Across his 27 Ligue 1 appearances this season, Verratti has racked up a higher combined total of tackles and interceptions (93) at the club, as well as only seeing Lionel Messi (278) make more progressive passes than him (250), showing how much of an impact he can have in and out of possession.
With all of that in mind, we feel that if Gundogan does end up leaving this summer, securing a deal for the PSG star could be a smart bit of business for City.
