Talented Italian midfielder Marco Verratti looks unlikely to make it to the tournament after a failure to resolve his injury problems.
The ex-Pescara man is set to have an operation for sports hernia on May 16. The operation will take place in Doha’s Aspetar centre as PSG announced in an official press release. Verratti is expected to be sidelined as a result of the operation for 8 weeks.
The press release further stated – “[a]s a result, Marco Verratti will play no part in Paris Saint-Germain’s final matches of the season, or Euro 2016, to be held in France between 10 June and 10 July”. (via Psg.fr)
The press release came within an hour of rumours surrounding him in the Italian media. Yesterday Laurent Blanc, the PSG manager, had aired doubts as to Verrattti’s availability in the Euros.
“It’s not a relapse” Blanc confirmed in his press conference ahead of the match against Gazelec Ajaccio, “for Marco, it’s still his groin”
“He’s done a lot of work and made a lot of progress since his injury, but he’s still feeling some discomfort. He’s not fit to start a game, we’re still preserving him.”
The PSG player missed two months of action between February and April, a period in which his team crashed out of the quarter finals against Manchester City. He has only seen two substitute appearances in the last month after having seemingly recovered from the injury.
Blanc is however believed to be shielding his medical team as his responses in the pre match press conference was very defensive. The player was nursed with a conservative course of treatment which has now failed to bring fruits after suffering with the injury for several weeks.
He further said, “[w]e’ll do everything to avoid it. The medical staff and the player are doing everything to avoid it. The operation is the last resort to allow him to get better. We’re starting with care, that’s the approach we want to use. He’s so keen to start a game, but he still has some after-effects.”
Blanc insisted further that reporters should adopt caution when throwing around terms like “relapse” because “[h]e’s had a groin problem for a long time”.
Having already wrapped up the title, there is little need for Verratti at PSG for the season. Rabiot, who has been filling up for him, will continue to do so for the remaining games. However Conte and Italy fans will have a sour taste in their mouth since they know how vital he is for the midfield, especially after the injury blow to Marchisio. Conte will now head to France with a depleted squad, missing two sure starters. The likely candidate to replace him at the heart of Conte’s midfield will perhaps be either PSG teammate Thiago Motta or Sampdoria sensation Roberto Soriano.
