Marco Verratti: I will remain at Paris Saint-Germain

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Bengaluru, August 7: Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti has admitted that there was indeed some truth linking him to Barcelona this Summer, however, he has decided to remain in the French capital this season.

The central midfielder is a long-term target for Barcelona and some reports earlier stated that Barcelona were planning a big money move to land the Italian Superstar, however, all the speculations have now dealt a major blow as Verratti himself in a recent interview has acknowledged the fact that his immediate future lies with PSG.

Veratti dropped his former agent Donato Di Campli this summer and hired super-agent Mino Raiola. Many believed that he made this move only to secure a better negotiation with Barcelona, but, Verratti now poured cold water to all these speculations.

"Barcelona? There was something, but that was as far as it went," Verratti said to 'Sky Sports Italia'.

"We didn't have any other negotiations."

PSG recently raided Barcelona and saw their Brazilian Superstar Neymar make the move to Ligue 1 for a world record fee of €222 million (£198m).

Most of the media claim that Neymar's arrival changed his mind, however, the 24-year-old now clarified that he chose to stay at the club long before Neymar's situation and he never comprehended that Neymar would arrive at his club.

"I decided to stay on this path and I'm happy for it. Did Neymar change my mind? I did way before."

"I never knew that Neymar would come here," Verratti added.

Verratti played full 90 minutes in their League opener match and helped them with a 2-0 victory over newly promoted Amiens.

Forward Edison Cavani and attacker Javier Pastore scored the winning goals.

However, new signing Neymar did not participate in the match, but was in the stands to watch his team in Ligue 1 action.