Yesterday, French league champions PSG were cleared of breaking UEFA’S Financial Fair Play rules. It’s been said that the Ligue 1 side’s finances will remain under scrutiny and that they’ve been told that they need to recoup €60m in transfers before the end of this month.

Rumours claim that PSG have offered Manchester United the chance to purchase Marco Verratti.

The deal could make sense as selling the midfielder will bring in most of that €60m. Plus he’s one of the Parisien’s stars that isn’t at the World Cup this month, so he can leave before the deadline passes.

Then there’s the fact that Marco wasn’t as influential with Les Rouge-et-Bleu last term as he has been in the past. The twenty-five year old has been with the French champs for the past six years and it looks as though the player has become a bit stale in France and needs a change of club to revitalise his career.

Now the need for a midfield man like Verratti might not be as high for United now they’ve confirmed the signing of Fred but the Italian international could give Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho more options when it comes to formations next season.

Verratti’s used to playing in a 4-3-3 and we know that’s the formation Paul Pogba favours but it might not be the best for Jose if he has Fred, Verratti, Pogba and Nemanja Matic all wanting to play. Although rotation might help Verratti and Fred to settle into the Premier League.

If you want to play them all, then a four man diamond formation could be used. You’d have Matic as the holding midfield marshall. Then the two new signings as the the runners and Pogba as the creative force playing closer to the forwards.

United fans are used to exciting wide players and that wouldn’t be as evident in the diamond formation. The full-backs would essentially become wing-backs. You could also give Alexis Sanchez/Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba/Jesse Lingard more freedom to move around in the attacking areas. Plus we have to remember that Mourinho prefers to be pragmatic and having Matic, Verratti and Fred all in the same team would give them a stronger spine.

Verratti gives you a player who’s very efficient with the ball. In thirty appearances (Ligue 1/Champions League) last season the deep laying playmaker averaged 91.3% in his passing success rate stats. He also managed to create five assists, down from the seven he produced in the 2016-17 season.

Often mentioned as his nation’s replacement for Andrea Pirlo, his performance against FC Barcelona in 2017 should be enough to tell you that the midfield dynamo can be a world beater on his day.

While is talent is clear to see, his disciplinary problems are also hard to hide. He picked up nine yellow cards last term and was sent off twice. That record needs to improve and the Italian needs to learn to time his tackles and keep his mouth shut when facing referees.

If Marco Verratti has indeed been offered to Jose Mourinho, the Portuguese coach has to decide if he really needs him?

Will it be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth in midfield? Should Man United look to fill other positions first? Or will the Italian international offer Jose different options and the ability to keep the ball and create more chances for his forward players?

Posted on June 14th, 2018 by scott
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