Arsenal and Man Utd given chance to land midfield star compared to Pirlo

Robin Bairner

• 16 Aug 2024 07:27 BST
• 2 min read

Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool have been presented with the opportunity to sign their own version of Andre Pirlo before the transfer window shuts in a fortnight.

Pirlo is remembered as one of the great midfielders of the modern era, combining elegance and cool with a supreme level of technical skill, summed up by a fearless Panenka penalty against England at Euro 2012 as Italy made a run to the final.

He retired from the game in 2017 following a spell with New York City and is now in charge of Serie B club Sampdoria, but Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool have been offered the chance to sign one of the players since compared to him.

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According to Fichajes, Marco Verratti wants to return to Europe after one year with Al-Arabi in Qatar and is being touted to Premier League clubs in need of midfield reinforcements. It is claimed there is “interest” from all three clubs.

It is unclear what type of fee he might command, but he did leave PSG for Qatar last summer for a fee of €45 million. His Estimated Transfer Value (ETV), meanwhile, stands at €17m.

Why Verratti?

Arsenal are said to see the opportunity of signing Verratti as a way to strengthen their midfield options, particularly with Thomas Partey and Jorginho’s longevity questioned. The Italian, though, is also 31 himself and does not have the Premier League experience that Mikel Arteta typically loves in a player.

Furthermore, the Gunners are on the verge of signing Mikel Merino and are likely to focus on adding a striker to their ranks once that deal is done.

Current ETV

Marco Verratti

M, DM (C)

Al Arabi

Marco Verratti

M, DM (C)

Al Arabi

€17M

ETV Range

€12.8M - €21.3M

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Man Utd, meanwhile, are said not to have made Verratti a “priority” given that the focus is on developing younger midfielders at Old Trafford.

Finally, Liverpool could use him as a like-for-like replacement for Thiago Alcantara.

It seems unlikely, however, that Verratti will bounce back at such a club following an inglorious departure from PSG little over a year ago, with Kylian Mbappe notably pushing him out the door.