The futures of Azzurri stars Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marco Verratti in France have been cast under doubt, with Paris Saint-Germain reportedly looking to move a number of players on during the summer transfer window.
Despite leading Marseille in the Ligue 1 table by a seven-point margin, the Parisians’ games heading into the international break have been hugely underwhelming by their usual meteoric standards.
PSG were once again knocked out of the Champions League earlier than they would have liked after a 3-0 aggregate loss at the hands of Bavarian heavyweight Bayern Munich.
Last Saturday, PSG also fell to a disheartening 2-0 home defeat against fifth place Rennes at the Parc des Princes.
Despite only signing in Paris in the summer of 2021, the French giants could already be prepared to part ways with Italy’s no.1 Donnarumma in search of other possibilities according to reports in Tuttomercato.
PSG have previously shown ruthlessness with their goalkeepers, with Keylor Navas and Alphonse Areola both forced out of the door in recent years.
On this occasion, Donnarumma himself is reported to be interested in exploring other options, with plenty of years left in his career still aged only 24.
At the other end of the spectrum is Verratti, who is now into his 11th season at the Parc des Princes, a huge achievement given PSG’s endless funds and constant recycling of their playing staff.
The 30-year-old has been linked with a return to Italy, for the first time since his spell with Pescara between 2008-12.
Due to Pescara’s Serie B status during that period, Verratti has never played in the Italian top flight despite his 52 caps for the national team.
At present, his contract runs until the summer of 2026, meaning that a potential transfer would likely not come cheap.
However, Verratti himself piqued interests when he admitted his interest in returning to his native country during his pre-match press conference with Italy in the build up to the recent game against England.
This summer has the potential to bring two of the stars of the national team back to Serie A if reports are to be believed.