Nearly three years after his last appearance for the Azzurri, the idea of a sensational return for Marco Verratti to the national team is resurfacing. New coach Gennaro Gattuso – who recently took over as Italy coach – flew to Qatar a few days ago to meet with the former PSG midfielder, currently at Al-Duhail. The goal? To personally assess the Abruzzo playmaker’s availability and fitness ahead of the crucial 2026 World Cup qualifying playoffs in March. The 33-year-old Verratti, who hasn’t worn the Azzurri jersey since the 2023 Nations League, immediately said he was ready and motivated for a potential call-up. The meeting in Doha with Gattuso and delegation leader Gianluigi Buffon wasn’t just a courtesy visit: the former PSG playmaker was fully open to a return, expressing enthusiasm for returning to the game with Italy. His record for the national team speaks for itself – 55 caps, 3 goals, and a European Championship title won in 2021 – and Gattuso hopes to capitalize on this wealth of experience at the most delicate moment.
From his first moves as coach, Gattuso highlighted the need to fill a gap in the Azzurri’s midfield. Italy has long been without a true playmaker—a problem that emerged after the European champions Verratti and Jorginho. In the recently concluded World Cup qualifiers, the Azzurri struggled to bring consistency and order to their midfield, trying out various players without finding a new director. “Italy is struggling to find a natural playmaker, a player capable of bringing order and continuity to their play, of managing difficult moments with experience and clarity,” In this scenario, Verratti’s profile has suddenly become highly relevant again. Gattuso, who is currently touring Italian and international clubs to prepare for the playoffs, therefore seems inclined to play the Verratti card to restore balance and ideas to his team. This isn’t a nostalgic move, but rather a thoughtful choice: injecting experience and quality into a young group that, since the retirement of some veterans, has shown a lack of these qualities. The Italian midfielder needs vision and personality, qualities that Verratti has always possessed in abundance. It’s no coincidence that, according to sources close to the staff, Gattuso described the former Paris Saint-Germain player as “one of the few pure playmakers left in Italy, a player with the vision and international experience that Italy desperately needs right now.”
International experience and vision
If Gattuso is considering recalling Verratti, it’s primarily because of the midfielder’s extraordinary international experience. At 33, he boasts over a decade at the highest level: he played 11 seasons with PSG, racking up dozens of Champions League appearances (even coming close to winning the trophy in the 2020 final) and dominating in Ligue 1, in addition, of course, to the aforementioned Euro 2020 triumph with Italy. This experience represents invaluable capital for a national team facing high-pressure knockout stages. Verratti knows what it means to face semifinals and finals, and he understands the weight of the Azzurri shirt in crucial moments. His presence on the pitch could instill confidence in teammates less accustomed to international competition, helping the team manage difficult situations with maturity. Vision and football intelligence are two other qualities that make Verratti unique: over the years, he has become a classic playmaker capable of dictating the team’s pace, alternating short passes and long runs with equal effectiveness. It’s no coincidence that illustrious figures like Xavi have called him “one of the best midfielders in the world” for his technique and vision. With Verratti at the helm, Italy could regain the clarity of play that has been lacking recently. His ability to read situations and orchestrate play will be crucial against opponents who tend to close down in the playoffs: the Italian from Doha knows how to find the right opening or slow down the game to give his team a breathing space. In short, his high football IQ and his metronomic eye could prove crucial in advancing through the playoffs.
Technical quality and leadership in midfield
Beyond experience, Verratti would undoubtedly bring a leap in technical quality to the Italian midfield. While not a goalscorer, the Pescara-born playmaker has built his career on ball control and precise passing. This latter quality is somewhat lacking in the current Azzurri squad: adding a passer of Verratti’s caliber would immediately increase the pass completion rate and the fluidity of the play. In Qatar, the midfielder is demonstrating he hasn’t lost his touch: sources close to the coaching staff report convincing performances against Al-Duhail, including a goal scored under the watchful eyes of Gattuso and Buffon during the recent visit. But beyond his individual technique—lightning-fast dribbling, tight ball control, pinpoint passes—Verratti would also bring leadership and personality to the Azzurri midfield. He’s never been a charismatic leader in the style of a loud-mouthed captain, but he’s accumulated enough experience to become a point of reference for his teammates. Gattuso knows how important these “intangible” qualities are in do-or-die matches. Indeed, he’s seeking leadership and international experience, combined with the ability to read games in the most challenging moments. Verratti, with his combative nature and the grit he’s shown even in the toughest tournaments, embodies this profile: on the pitch, he knows how to make his voice heard by example, maintaining composure and managing his timing when the pressure mounts. His presence could prove invaluable, especially in crucial moments, when the tempo needs to be slowed down, the clock running down, or, conversely, a sudden acceleration to catch the opponent off guard. Playing alongside a veteran who has won major trophies could also instill confidence in the many young players in the Azzurri squad. “Experience and leadership for an Italy team still searching for a key player”: this is how some media have summed up Gattuso’s Verratti move. In other words, the former PSG midfielder would be brought back not out of nostalgia, but to give personality to a national team that is struggling to find an identity and a leader in midfield.
Tactical Adaptability and Football Intelligence
Another advantage of Verratti’s potential return lies in his remarkable tactical versatility. Over the years, the Abruzzo-born midfielder has played various positions in midfield, demonstrating a remarkable ability to adapt to the coaches’ needs. Thanks to this versatility, Verratti can operate as a deep-lying playmaker in front of the defense, as a central midfielder, or even as an attacking midfielder when needed. At Pescara, he began his career as an advanced finisher; at PSG, under coaches like Ancelotti and Emery, he often played as a central midfielder or deep-lying playmaker, while for the national team under Mancini, he was deployed as a left-sided midfielder alongside Jorginho. This versatility would allow Gattuso to use him in various formations without distorting his unique characteristics. For example, Verratti could be deployed in a three-man midfield as a central pivot, with the ability to move forward when needed; Or in a two-man midfield, alongside a more physical midfielder, ensuring quality build-up play. His tactical intelligence allows him to play different roles while maintaining high performance: he knows when to drop back to the defensive line to build the play and when to advance to create numerical superiority or seek a through ball. In a national team that could change formation between the semifinals and (eventual) play-off final depending on the opponent, having a midfielder as adaptable as Verratti would be a significant luxury. It means being able to switch, for example, from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 without having to sacrifice his presence, because Marco would be able to calibrate himself both as a traditional playmaker and as a central midfielder. Few other Italian midfielders today offer this variety of tactical solutions, a factor that Gattuso – who is very attentive to the team’s balance – considers of great importance.
Physical Condition and Potential Uncertainties
Naturally, along with the many potential benefits, there are also doubts and uncertainties surrounding Verratti’s return to the national team. The first question concerns the player’s physical and athletic condition: while it’s true that press sources describe him as being in “excellent physical condition” in Qatar, it’s equally true that the pace of the Middle Eastern league isn’t comparable to that of major European tournaments. Verratti left elite football in 2023 to accept the exotic challenge of Qatar, knowing that it could distance him from the Azzurri. It’s no coincidence that after his transfer, then-coach Luciano Spalletti didn’t even call him up for the Euro 2024 qualifiers, a sign that his decision to leave the top leagues was seen as a step backwards for the national team. Today, Gattuso is willing to reopen that chapter, but it remains to be seen how much Verratti can contribute to the Azzurri cause in the short term. The player hasn’t played top-level matches in some time and will have to prove he can handle the intensity and competitive spirit of a World Cup playoff. His athleticism for over 90 minutes, his ability to sprint and tackle against international opponents, are aspects that only the pitch will reveal. From this perspective, a potential call-up to Verratti would also present Gattuso with a delicate choice: should he start, banking on his class, or should he use him as a “safety net” to control the ball in key moments? Some fear that choosing a veteran who has lost his first taste of top-flight football could be a desperate move, but others see it as a brilliant move to revitalize the team. In any case, Gattuso will carefully evaluate every aspect before making a final decision. The coach has already made it clear that no goal is off limits: Verratti’s enthusiastic willingness to play (“If needed, I’m there,” he said in Doha) is an important sign, but it doesn’t automatically guarantee a call-up. In the coming weeks, the Azzurri staff will closely monitor the former PSG playmaker and all the other potential midfielders to determine who offers the best promise ahead of Italy vs. Northern Ireland on March 26. The final decision will be up to Gattuso, who will have to weigh the pros and cons: on the one hand, the enormous contribution in terms of experience, quality, and leadership that Verratti can bring; on the other, the risks associated with his absence from competitive European football. If he decides to bet on the prodigal son of Manoppello, he will do so with the conviction that the risk is worth the effort. And Azzurri fans are already dreaming: an Italy with Verratti back at the center of the action, attempting a decisive bid for a spot at the World Cup. Translate the full article into English.
