He is a top player even at his worst day. And was avaible for peanuts in his teens. Playing in Serie B but already in Azzurri. And we didn't take it.
Barella is nowhere near his impact yet tho he is emerging well, and he cost 45m for Inter to sign.
Verratti was the more obvious signing for sure. However his career has turned out disappointingly so far, especially for the Azzurri. I just checked and he has played less than 2 full games for Italy in a tournament (World Cup 2014).
You must watch a lot of PSG games or something for him to impress. I only watch them sometimes in the latter stages of CL and he is less available than Neymar

I think I've seen him once in the CL knockouts in the last 4 or so years. But yeah, he's good when he plays
But you like them fragile, luxury players *cough* Zaniolo *cough*
Barella is legit though and in his short career I've seen more from him for the Azzurri than from Verratti.