Barcelona served blow in pursuit of Verratti alternative

Barcelona have been dealt a decisive blow in their plans to sign Saul Niguez if they fail to land Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti after the Spaniard ruled out leaving Atletico Madrid.

Saul scored a hat-trick in Spain’s 3-1 win over Italy in the semi-finals of the U21 European Championships on Tuesday night and has recently emerged as a top transfer target for Barcelona.

Ernesto Valverde’s side are desperate to bolster their central midfielder options this summer and have earmarked Verratti, who wants to join the La Liga giants, as their top transfer target.

Barcelona haven’t given up hope of signing Verratti this summer despite the fact PSG have categorically ruled out his departure, but they’ll have to rethink any alternative after Saul ruled out the idea of leaving Atletico.

“I have no intention of moving,” Saul told AS, via Goal.com. “I’m where I want to be and things are going to remain the same. They [Atletico] have put their trust in me since I was young, and I want to repay that confidence.”

The 22-year-old only signed a new five-year contract with Atletico in May 2016 and Diego Simeone’s side are currently banned from registering new players until January, which would mean they wouldn’t be able to sign any replacement.

Saul has scored four goals in each of the last three La Liga campaigns but has developed a real ability to turn up in big matches in the Champions League and now for the Spainish U21 side.

In the last two La Liga campaigns only Filipe Luis (394) and Gabi (378) have won more tackles and interceptions combined than Saul (310).

For more stats on Saul Niguez, click here to visit his WhoScored player page