Marco Verratti: Why Barcelona Failed in Their Summer Pursuit of PSG Star

• Barcelona made a late push to sign Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti
• The Catalans were among the top European clubs to make a bid for the Italian
• Verratti is set to depart the Parc des Princes to join Qatari side Al-Arabi

Marco Verratti could have been a Barcelona player this season as the Catalan club made a late attempt to sign the veteran Italian midfielder from Paris Saint-Germain.

The reigning La Liga champions, who had added top stars like Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu to their squad, saw their deadline day bid to sign Verratti rebuffed by PSG.

According to the Tribuna, PSG entertained only permanent transfer offers, but Barcelona only offered to sign Verratti on loan, so the Ligue 1 champions rejected Barca's approach.

The 30-year-old midfielder is now set to become the latest big-name player to move to the Middle East after agreeing to join Qatari club Al-Arabi on a permanent deal from PSG.

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Verratti has racked up more than 400 appearances for PSG and scored 11 goals, winning the Ligue 1 title nine times since joining the French club from Pescara in 2012.

PSG set to make significant profit from Verratti

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain are set to make a decent profit on the sale of Marco Verratti and recoup more than three times what they originally paid for the midfielder more than a decade ago, Sport Bible reports.

PSG are set to pocket €45 million for Verratti as the Italian midfielder will travel to Doha in the next 24 hours to finalise his transfer to Qatari club Al-Arabi after 11 years at the French club.

The Ligue 1 champions signed Verratti from Pescara for a fee in the region of €12 million back in 2012.

PSG legend set to join Qatar side

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that after 11 years at Paris Saint-Germain, Marco Verratti is close to sealing his shock permanent transfer to Qatar to join Al-Arabi for €45 million.

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Verratti was expected to move to Saudi Arabia just like many other footballers from European clubs, but the Italian is the second high-profile player to move to Qatar.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reported that the former Pescara star will travel to Doha in the next 24 hours to seal the move after PSG and Al-Arabi reached a verbal agreement.