Followed By Coutinho, Marco Verratti Joins Qatar Club

Italian national team player Marco Verratti left Paris Saint-Germain and moved to Qatar. (Photo: INSTAGRAM/@marco_verratti92)

JAKARTA Marco Verratti officially left Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and joined Qatar Al Arabi club.

The Italian international moved for a transfer value of 45 million euros (Rp. 742 billion). He is the second famous player from Europe to move to Qatar this week.

"I am very proud to wear the Paris Saint-Germain costume for more than a decade, playing alongside many great players and winning 30 trophies," Verratti was quoted as saying on the PSG website.

During his time with the French giant, Verratti won nine Ligue 1 titles after joining in 2012. Unfortunately he couldn't help PSG get the European Champions League.

"Paris, klub dan para pendukungnya akan selalu mendapat tempat yang sangat spesial di hati saya. Saya akan menjadi orang Paris selamanya," ujar dia.

Verratti is the newest European player to move to the Middle East. He is included in a large group of transfer windows this summer.

Most of them moved to the Saudi Arabian Pro League. One of them is his former teammate at PSG, Neymar.

The former 30-year-old Barcelona player moved to Al-Hilal for a transfer fee of 77.6 million in August.

Before Verratti himself, Aston Villa player Philippe Coutinho also joined Qatar Al-Duhail club. The Brazilian came on loan for a season last Friday.

Verratti himself was linked with his move to the Saudi Pro League. However, no club was able to complete the deal until the deadline for the transfer of September 7 yesterday.