Verratti has already been lazily billed as the next Andrea Pirlo, after the Juventus midfielder reminded the English media he was quite good this summer, and after dominating Serie B with his home-town club Pescara last season, he departed to join PSG for a fee of €13 million.
That the 19-year-old will not compete in the top league in Italy has caused some contention in Italy. After declaring his admiration for Pirlo and the less than subtle admiring glances from the Old Lady, it was widely assumed that the young midfielder would inevitably join Juve, whether this summer or the next.
The Pescara chairman has gone as far as to criticise Juventus and Napoli for not following up their interest in the hottest young talent in Italian football and being prepared to match the offer from Qatari funded PSG.
"Evidently, they lacked the will [to complete a deal], because if one seriously wants an important player, €1m should not make a difference," said Daniele Sebastiani. He was also keen for an Italian side to complete the transfer as it would have seen Verratti stay with Pescara for their year in Serie A.
Verratti was unveiled on the same day as the Zlatan-show rolled into Paris, and his own press conference was reduced to an aperitif before the Swede's 48 minute première. Leonardo was eager to point out that PSG had concluded their summer strengthening (a point undermined by Ibrahimovic in his first 48 minutes at the club) but the additions this summer fall into a different bracket compared to 2011.
Last summer Paris strengthened from within their domestic league. Jeremy Menez, Blaise Matuidi, Kevin Gameiro were recruited to bolster the squad, before the continental experience of Alex, Thiago Motta and Maxwell came in during January.
The expenditure this summer has truly caught the eye though. Thiago Silva, Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic and Verratti (as well as all playing in Italy) are players who would interest the elite sides in world football. Owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi stated during the Ibra unveiling that the Champions League was their stated target, completely forgoing any mention of winning the domestic title. How the 19-year-old Italian fits into this grand vision is less than clear.
The departure of Pescara boss Zdenek Zenan this summer, probably accelerated the sale of Verratti, as did match-fixing claims against the club, subsequently punished with a two-point penalty. Zenan, a figure of cult status in Italian football returned to Roma (again), and he is renowned for his attacking sides and building young outfits who like to play football.
Verratti came in for all of the 2011-2012 season and dovetailed beautifully with loan-signing Lorenzo Insigne, the pair contributing 20 goals in Pescara's promotion to Serie A. Zenan is a huge advocate of a 4-3-3 formation and on his appointment at Pescara immediately assigned Verratti to the deep-lying defensive midfielder role, finally bought to mainstream attention with Pirlo's exploits in Ukraine and Poland.
Deploying your most technical and ball-playing midfielder in defensive midfield might not seem conducive with attacking football, but with the other two central midfielders closing down higher up the pitch the DM is afforded more time on the ball to dictate the game and play the killer pass.
Pescara won Serie B and many fans as they blasted home 90 goals en route to the title in 2012 and Verratti was the player who caught the eye. Only five foot five, the midfielder has enormous passing capabilities, and for his height is extremely strong on the ball. Coupled with the ability to trick his way past opposition players, it's easy to see why Cesare Prandelli thought highly enough to include the Pescora player in his initial 30-man squad for Euro 2012.
Verratti didn't make the final 23, but given the competition in the Italian midfield; De Rossi, Montolivo, new team-mate Motta and Pirlo, there is no shame in not making it into that squad at just 19.
Competition for places could well be a big problem for Verratti at the Parc des Princes. Although he would face fiercer competition at the Bianconeri of Juventus, who have further bolstered their midfield with Isla and Asamoah from Udinese, dislodging €39.8 million signing Javier Pastore appears an even bigger challenge for the 19-year-old.
After arriving for a club-record fee expectations were going to be high, and despite 13 goals in his first year in Ligue 1, the Argentinian has struggled to win over fans and the media. He has struggled to fit into Carlo Ancelotti's 4-3-3 formation and has often found himself out on the wing, rather than in the centre of the pitch, where both Pastore and Verratti want to play.
PSG will keep spending money to improve their squad, meaning competition for a place in Ancelotti's midfield three wil be incredibly fierce. At 19, the last thing the Pescora native wants to do is halt his development by sitting on the bench.
Paris might seem like a step forward, but unless Verratti can make an impression on Ancelotti, and convince the Italian to mould the team around him, he may find he struggles to adapt. Verratti is clearly a huge talent, but he needs refining and that could have been served with one attempt at keeping hometown club Pescara in Serie A.
Watch Verratti in action for Pescara last season, he's the small chap putting all the passes in for the strikers to fluff.
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