Andrea Pirlo Names The Player Who Will Be 'The Future Of European Football'

Being one of the finest players of his generation, Andrea Pirlo has played alongside and opposite a plethora of world class talent over the past 15 years and the Italian midfield maestro/world class coat and trouser wearer has now identified the player who, he believes, will dominate the world of football for the next 20 years.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Juventus and AC Milan legend has opted for one of his countrymen as the player who will become the future of football during the next two decades.

Step forward Marco Verratti.

The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder has enjoyed another productive season in the French capital, laying on six assists for his teammates and drawing the admiration of Andres Iniesta during PSG's thumping 4-0 Champions League victory over Barcelona, three weeks ago.

Verratti has so far completed 88% of his passes in Ligue Un, this season creating 28 chances and delivering 11 through balls in the process.

Speaking to L'Equipe, Pirlo spoke of the 24-year-old many have tipped to become his natural successor in the middle of the park for the Azzurri in years to come.

"Verratti is a great player, he is and will be the future of Italian and European football for the next twenty years.

"He plays more or less in my position, but we are very different in the way we play.

"He dribbles a lot more than me and he keeps the ball, he's the best Italian player both today and tomorrow, and we've had good times together with Italy.

"It's said that lots of good players cannot play alongside each other, but if everyone is works together, it can happen. And it's good between us and it works."

Verratti has won 19 international caps so far, scoring one goal and cruelly missed out on Euro 2016 last summer due to injury. He has lifted the last four Ligue Un titles with PSG and has been heavily linked with a move away from the Parc De Princes, this Summer, with Pirlo's former club Juve reportedly keeping the 24-year-old firmly on their radar.

(H/T Football Italia)

Topics: Football, marco verratti, PSG, Andrea Pirlo, Italy

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

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