Matuidi: Verratti 'a jewel of a player' | OneFootball

Former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi was full of praise for former teammate Marco Verratti as the diminutive Italian playmaker left Ligue 1 Uber Eats for the Qatari league last week.

Matuidi and Marco Verratti were teammates for five seasons at PSG, winning an outrageous number of trophies and, along with Thiago Motta, forming the midfield three that won everything and which many rate as the finest of the capital club's Qatari era.

'Left his mark on the history of PSG'

Speaking to French sports daily L'Equipe, Matuidi - who retired from football last season after a swansong with Inter Miami in the MLS - was full or affection and praise for his former teammate, who arrived at the club as a wide-eyed 19-year-old who had never left his home region and never played in Serie A.

"I have a fantastic image of Marco," Matuidi beamed. "In my opinion, given the titles he's won, Marco has left his mark on the history of PSG. When he arrived, he was very young, carefree, nobody knew him. But from his first touches, we could see that he was a jewel of a player who was going to thrill the Parc des Princes."

Keystone

And thrill the Parc des Princes he did, helping Paris Saint-Germain to win nine of the 11 Ligue 1 Uber Eats titles it has in its cabinet, along with six Coupes de France and Coupes de la Ligue (each) and nine Trophées des Champions.

Pure talent

However, despite now being one of the most decorated players in world football, Verratti was far from prepossessing when he arrived at the club.

"At his first training session, we saw a kid come in. He was small and shy, coming out of nowhere," recalled Matuidi. "And as soon as he touched the ball, we said to ourselves that we had a phenomenon on our hands. He was 19, but he was already playing like a 28-year-old. He wasn't afraid of anything."

Grey hairs

This lack of fear also led to Verratti's trademark high-risk dribbling on the edge of his own area, but Matuidi was able to be more sanguine about the Italian's dangerous propensities than former boss Carlo Ancelotti and team captain Thiago Silva.

"It wasn't just Carlo! Thiago Silva took a few swipes at Marco too," laughed Matuidi. "But it didn't change much and, in the end, we usually knew that it was going to lead to something positive. Personally, I think you have to take the positives out of everything he's done. And I say to him: 'Marco, well done!'."

'Always a great professional'

While many credit Verratti's party-prone lifestyle with the club's decision to sell him, Matuidi clearly has great respect for how the young Italian - who left France with a record of 416 appearances, second-most for any PSG player, with a total of 11 goals and an incredible 61 assists - handled himself in the French capital.

"Maybe that's what some people want to remember, and Marco never hid the fact that he was a bon vivant," said Matuidi when asked whether Verratti's just for life overshadowed his football. "Don't forget that he started out as a kid arriving in Paris from Pescara! It's not the same rhythm of life. But he knew how to be serious too. I can assure you that Marco was never late for training, and he was always a great professional."