Barcelona face Paris Saint-Germain tonight in the Champions League and Neymar will miss the clash against his former club due to injury.
Neymar is the most expensive player in the world and has been holding on to the tag since the Ligue 1 winners paid €222m to the Catalan club in 2017.
Prior to the Brazil international’s arrival at Parc des Princes, Barca were keen on signing Marco Verratti the same summer. However, they failed in their efforts and the midfielder ended up staying in the French capital.
Mino Raiola manages the 28-year-old and has been doing so since July 2017. Prior to that, Donato Di Campli was representing the Italy international.
During an interview with L’Equipe, Di Campli has revealed he lost Verratti to Raiola due to his willingness to take the player to Barcelona.
“It’s a long story. When Barca contacted me, I asked Marco what we’re doing. He told me to speak with them, that we would speak with PSG since an extension was in the pipeline,” Di Campli said.
“PSG weren’t great at the time, I said to Marco: ‘Would we go or stay? He said: ‘0K, let’s try another experience’.”
Verratti ended the reports linking him with a move to Barcelona in July 2017 by distancing himself from Di Campli. The latter now claims PSG forced the player to take that step.
“PSG asked him to do it. Marco wanted to go to Barcelona. He sent a message to Nasser to tell him, I kept it. They were offering a lot of money, but it wasn’t even that. Playing with Messi, becoming a champion, which is a different thing from being a great player…” he explained.
“PSG are one of the biggest clubs in the world, but they are playing in a weak championship. I told Marco that if he wanted to become a champion, he had to change his mind.
“Nothing against PSG, but it’s easier to do it at Bayern, Barca or Real. I was an employee of Marco, and advised him what I thought was the best. But the choice was his.”
When asked why Verratti ended his association with him, Di Campli said: “When they saw that it was not possible, he was afraid. He was afraid that he would be blocked without playing.
“When he returned to Paris, they told him: ‘We are going to take Neymar, we are going to extend you, but you throw out your agent’.
“That’s it. I was pushing for the breakup, waging war to transfer him to Barcelona, but he backed off. I left with a Kalashnikov and, in the end, I finished with a water pistol.”
“For him, yes [decision to stay worked out], for me, no. Marco is not the symbol of PSG. The star is Neymar or Mbappé. Not Marco.
“I called Marco who was with PSG in Miami at that time. He said: ‘I spoke with Mino.’ I understood. In the past, Nasser had already called me to tell me: ‘If you try to take Marco away, Marco will leave you’.”
Di Campli also revealed there has been no contact between the pair since he ended his association with Verratti.
“Since 2017, no. The wound is still open. I have to thank him for giving me a lot of things, I hope I brought him things too. Between us, the relationship was special, I was there at complicated times. It’s like that. Raiola did nothing but profit from my job,” he concluded.
