Marco Verratti

Pescara

2001–06: Youth career

The first youth team Verratti was affiliated with was that of Manoppello, a historic team of Pescara, that in 2001 merged with the newly born Manoppello Arabona. He remained there until 2006 when he entered the youth of Pescara.

2008–10: Debut season and key performances

Verratti made his first team debut in the 2008–09 season at the age of 15 years and 9 months. In the 2009–10 season, he appeared more regularly for Pescara, and since then became a key player in the first team. His performances generated national media coverage as a potential star of the future and Italian international.

2011–12: Player of the season and departure

With Zdeněk Zeman as manager, Verratti excelled as a deep-lying playmaker in a Pescara team which won the 2011–12 Serie B title playing "the best football in Italy", earning promotion to Serie A the following season. After helping Pescara to promotion to Serie A, Verratti received the 2012 Bravo Award for the best player under the age of 21 in Europe, and was reportedly wanted by Napoli, Roma and Juventus, as well as Carlo Ancelotti's Paris Saint-Germain. At the 2012 AIC Gran Gala del Calcio, he was elected the best player of the 2011–12 Serie B season, along with former Pescara teammates Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne.

Paris Saint-Germain

2012–2014: Debut season and individual awards

On 18 July 2012, Verratti signed a five-year contract with Paris…

Youth

2012–13: UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Verratti took part with the Italy U-21 side at the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where the Azzurrini finished as runner-up to Spain. His performances saw him included in UEFA's all-star squad for the tournament.

Senior

2012–13: Beginnings

The uncapped Verratti was included into Cesare Prandelli's preliminary 32-man Italy squad for UEFA Euro 2012, being one of only two Serie B players (the other being Torino's Angelo Ogbonna) to be part of it. He was subsequently cut from the squad on 28 May 2012. On 15 August 2012, Verratti debuted for the Italian senior team in a 2–1 friendly loss against England in Bern. He made his first competitive appearance in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, appearing as a second-half substitute for Emanuele Giaccherini in a 2–2 draw against Bulgaria on 7 September. On 6 February 2013, Verratti scored his first international goal in a friendly match against the Netherlands in Amsterdam, an equalizer at the 91st minute that ended in a 1–1 draw.

2014: First FIFA World Cup

On 1 June 2014, Verratti was selected in Italy's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In Italy's opening match of the tournament, he made his first competitive start for the Azzurri on the left side of a midfield diamond with Juventus players Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio and Roma vice-captain Daniele De Rossi in his team's opening game of the tournament, a…

Verratti was born in Pescara, and grew up in Manoppello. As a child, he supported Juventus and idolised Alessandro Del Piero, the team's Italian international offensive playmaker. Verratti's talent was noticed at an early age, and he was made offers to join the youth academies of Atalanta and Internazionale, but joined his local club Pescara for €5,000. After an impressive performance for Pescara's under-16 team against AC Milan, the Lombardy club offered €300,000 to sign the midfielder, but Verratti decided to remain at Pescara.

Family and relationships

Verratti was in a relationship since 2009 with a childhood friend, an Italian woman Laura Zazzara, whom he later married and with whom he has two sons, Tommaso and Andrea; the pair separated at the beginning of 2019. On 15 July 2021, four days after Italy's Euro 2020 triumph, Verratti married model Jessica Aidi in Paris.

Legal issues

On 30 October 2018, Verratti was arrested after being caught drunk driving on the Boulevard Périphérique. He was subsequently fined by Paris Saint-Germain.