Fabrizio Romano has confirmed on Twitter that Marco Verratti is heading to Qatar to join Al Arabi, with Liverpool linked with the Italian international.
The transfer guru confirmed on social media that the midfielder will head to the Middle Eastern side in a €45m (£40m) deal having been linked with a move away from PSG all summer.
One club who had been interested in signing Verratti was Liverpool, though the Reds were seemingly never close to reaching an agreement for the 30-year-old during the transfer window.
And now, Liverpool’s small window to sign Verratti has passed them by, with the midfielder making the surprise decision to move to Qatar, with Andres Iniesta making a similar move earlier this summer.
Indeed, Saudi Arabia have stolen most of the headlines in the window when it comes to transfer, yet Qatar have now managed one superstar signing of their own in Verratti.
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Liverpool losing out to Qatar for Verratti won’t sit well for many
Middle Eastern influence in football is growing by the year, with this summer seeing the likes of Saudi Arabia and Qatar take an astronomical leap in being able to compete with Europe’s elite.
And for Verratti, Liverpool will feel they had an unfair disadvantage in any pursuit for the midfielder this window given PSG’s Qatari owners.
With a transfer unlikely from the start, though, Liverpool shouldn’t dwell on losing out on Verratti, who has made his decision to head to Qatar despite his best years being ahead of him.