PSG star's former agent accuses club of being a 'prison', claims they blackmailed player to prevent him from joining Barcelona

PSG star Marco Verratti's former agent Donato Di Campli has claimed that the Italian was blackmailed into rejecting a move to Barcelona. He said that the players are held like prisoners at the Ligue 1 club.

Di Campli disclosed that Verratti was interested in joining Barcelona but was forced to stay at PSG. He added that the club president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, threatened him and eventually got him sacked as the Italian's agent.

Speaking to Relevo, Di Campli claimed that PSG blackmails the players into staying at the club. He recalled the incident with Verratti and said:

"In Paris the players are imprisoned, you never do what they want but the club; it's a prison and there is blackmail. PSG's attitude is always blackmail. We had decided to go to Barcelona. That, obviously, the emir did not like. Al Khelaifi even told me that if I kept trying to do the operation with Barca, Verratti was going to let me (go). And that's how it ended up happening. I'm sure Marco was scared, he won't admit it, but that's how it is."

He added:

"From the day he arrived, Verratti was in jail. When we spoke with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain met him several times, they told him that they were going to sign Neymar, that they were going to do a project around him... If you go against them everything becomes something personal."

Di Campli added that Barcelona kept calling but did not get an answer. He continued:

"The ex-president [Josep Maria] Bartomeu did not stop calling Al Khelaifi and he never, never answered the phone. My experience with them is very bad, very bad. They only care about money. It's a club that has no soul. They don't let them leave because the emir and Al Khelaifi think that everything is 'buyable', that they can conquer the world with money alone. But it has already been seen that it is not possible."

Verratti was also linked with Real Madrid and Manchester City, but stayed put in Paris.

PSG unwilling to let Kylian Mbappe leave for free

PSG are caught in a tough situation as Kylian Mbappe has confirmed he will not be extending his contract at the club. He is in the final 12 months of his deal and will become a free agent next summer.

The Ligue 1 champions are not happy with the forward making things public and are forcing him to sign an extension. They are ready to let him leave for Real Madrid or any other club but want a fee.

Mbappe was signed by Paris Saint-Germain for a whopping €180 million from AS Monaco in 2017 and they are unwilling to let him walk for free.