‘Some say we play for the money but it’s not the case… players choose a project that may one day win the Champions League’: Marco Verratti insists PSG stars are not there for financial gain and they believe they can conquer Europe
- The midfielder has expressed his dream of winning the Champions League
- Players are desperate to fulfill the Champions League dream of their owners
- PSG beat Borussia Dortmund days before the Champions League was halted
Marco Verratti insists that his Paris Saint-Germain team-mates are not interested in financial gain and expressed his dream of winning the Champions League.
PSG have spent lavishly on building a star-studded squad featuring the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar since the Qatar Investment Authority took control in 2011.
But the 27-year-old midfielder dismisses the suggestion that the PSG squad are only there because of the financial rewards on offer.
Midfielder Marco Verratti insists that his PSG team-mates are not interested in financial gain
‘At the start and even now, there are a lot of players who tell me, ‘come on, talk to the president, I want to come and play there’,’ the Italy international, who joined the club ahead of their first full season under QIA management in 2012, said in an interview with former PSG defender Laure Boulleau.
‘PSG have become one of the seven or eight best teams in the world. That is why there are so many players, some of which I don’t know, who want to play for PSG.
‘Some say we play at PSG for the money but it’s not the case. If a player plays for money, he’ll go to China.
‘When a player chooses to play for PSG he is also choosing a project that may one day win the Champions League. In this town, that will mean five times more than winning it at another club.’
PSG have spent lavishly on building a star-studded squad featuring the likes of Kylian Mbappe
PSG beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League to reach the quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate just days before the coronavirus lockdown.
The French champions made it past the last 16 after painful exits at the same stage in the past two years.
‘It is quite difficult at PSG because when you lose a game there is a lot of pessimism,’ he explained.
‘It is true that in the league we are used to winning, we have won a lot for the last seven years. We have won every trophy possible in France and that is why there is always a lot of hope in the Champions League.
‘But the Champions League is always a very tough competition and you have to keep your confidence levels up because you come up against the strongest players, the strongest teams in Europe, especially when you reach the quarters where they are all there.’