Former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Claude Makelele spoke to Media Carré about Paris club legend Marco Verratti. For him, the Parisian midfielder’s departure was mainly due to a lack of progress towards the end of his Parisian adventure. He even regrets the career of the Little Owl, who in his opinion should have been eligible for the Ballon d’Or with a little more direction.
Makélélé “I think he took Verratti off because there was no longer that spark”.
“Did Luis Enrique take Verratti off because he couldn’t score and that’s why he put Vitinha in his place, who can score?
No, that’s different. I think he took Verratti off because he’d lost that spark. He wasn’t making any progress. He was making the others progress. The others had reached a level of performance, technical and tactical quality, but he was no longer progressing. He was ahead of everyone else. Some players are born ahead of everyone else. The moment he’s no longer within that framework, he simply loses himself.
Makélélé “Yes, it hurt because he’s an exceptional player”.
Do you think he did the right thing?
He’s living it well, so much the better, because I asked him the question. If you live it well, so much the better. But if you don’t like it… because I don’t like it. I told him: “For me, you should at least be Ballon d’Or winner”. The Ballon d’Or has just been awarded to the Manchester City midfielder. It’s a guy like Verratti that I would have seen. But that’s the bitter side of soccer. Yes, it hurt because he’s an exceptional player.”
You can trust Makélélé, he’s seen a lot of players and he doesn’t talk about them every day the way he does about Verratti. Everyone expected better from the little Italian. Nevertheless, he delighted us, very often. He had magic in his game, despite the flaws he struggled to correct over time.
Verratti winning the Ballon d’Or might have been a possibility, but you have to want it, and it’s not certain that Verratti would go after it. Now Verratti has had his heyday, he’s passed on. We can always think back and imagine the best, but let’s not forget that not every player fights every morning to be better than the others.
