Marco Verratti: Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Ever Signing

A few hours before Paris Saint-Germain declared their lofty ambitious of continental domination with the unveiling of superstar signing Zlatan Ibrahimović, a slight 19-year-old poked his shaven head above a billowing blue, red and white shirt.

The €12m capture of a promising, yet relatively low-profile midfielder from the second-tier of Italian football understandably fell into the background as one of the games great players - and self-promoters - conducted an impromptu photoshoot beneath the Eiffel Tower.

But, almost eight years on, Marco Verratti has become perhaps the most important player of PSG's trophy-laden era and one of Europe's greatest midfielders.

Like many superstars from humble beginnings, Verratti is adored by those from his hometown, proud to have shared a classroom with his brother or that they've bought a table from his father's carpentry business. But the fondness Pescara fans have for the Gufetto - Little Owl - is greater than most given his loyalty to the Dolphins.

At the age of 15 he turned down AC Milan's advances and only after guiding Pescara to the top flight for the first time in two decades did Verratti leave his boyhood club. Paradoxically, the act of moving on somehow endeared Verratti even more to the Pescara faithful by casting aside the advances of Serie A's elite for Ligue 1 and Paris Saint-Germain.

His standout season in the white and blue of Pescara came in his final campaign, at the base of Zdeněk Zeman's 4-3-3, dictating play at the age of 19 as the side broke Serie B records with 90 goals in 42 games on their way to promotion in 2012.

It was the enigmatic Czech coach who introduced Verratti to this role as a deep-lying playmaker - or regista (literally 'director') as it is known in Italy - moving him back from the number ten position he favoured having grown up with Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero as his idol.

Verratti hailed that single term with the former Lazio boss as a turning point in his career, declaring: "The year with Zeman changed my life. Before, I only went back to defend if someone was injured. It was then that I started to think about football 24 hours a day, about the little things that can improve your game to make the difference, and so it became a job, a responsibility.”

Yet, despite this tactical shift, the diminutive Italian lost none of his audacity on the ball.

Verratti is blessed with an unparalleled sense of self confidence. The sight of the 5'5 number six shielding the ball from a looming opponent on the edge of his box is almost as nerve-wracking - and mesmerising - as watching him weave his way between a forest of legs inside his team's defensive third.

This may leave the Parc des Princes faithful breathing a little heavier and it isn't exactly unheard of to see an opposition toe nick the ball now and then, but the most common outcome sees Verratti wriggle away and spring an attack without a hint concern creeping across the Italian's face.

Previous coaches have lamented this perceived recklessness on the ball. The former PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted it 'annoyed' him and his successor Laurent Blanc, when asked if Verratti took too many chances in possession, replied: "The problem when you take such risks is that, if it works, you think it's fantastic. But when it fails, that's the kind of question that you ask me."

However, over recent years - and this past season in particular - Verratti has made a concerted effort to avoid squandering possession by (only slightly) reducing the daring dribbles he attempts which has practically halved his turnovers per match.

One negative aspect of his game which hasn't improved to quite the same extent is Verratti's penchant for a yellow card. In five of the last seven seasons Verratti has missed a Champions League match through disciplinary suspension. This year was the first time that PSG were actually able to secure a win when Verratti was forced to sit out a European game.

When the Italian's running dialogue with the match officials - a transcript of which would rival the word count of even the most loquacious commentator - hasn't gotten him booked, Verratti's probing and penetrative passes are instrumental in unpicking the deep-sitting, stubborn defences PSG regularly encounter. This skillset has often earned him comparisons with some of the game's greatest deep-lying playmakers.

Upon arrival in France, Ancelotti gushed that Verratti 'sees the game before the others, like [Andrea] Pirlo'. The French publication l'Équipe were also quickly enamoured by PSG's pivotal midfielder and raved that his passes could one day be 'taught at an École de Beaux-Arts'.

Verratti offers a wonderful combination of silk and steel to any midfield lucky enough to include the Italian and at the tender age of 27, his enthralling exploits should grace the game's highest level for many years to come.