The likelihood - a strong one - is that we are very advanced with this matter. Clearly the fee for this guy if we were wanting 100% ownership would be approximately £15m or €18m, The half-ownership around €9m.
Clearly, these figures are very realistic given the fact that Verratti is going to be international class within 24 months. I can say that with confidence.
All that Marotta has to do is speak to Pescara after the penultimate match this weekend and clinch the deal. Prospects, especially homegrown prospects, like these rarely come along. He cannot procrastinate on this.
To those who would argue that we are stockpiling AMF's are not thinking about the process of natural progression/succession as Andrea Pirlo will have finished his stint with us by the end of the 2013/2014 season. By this time, our new midfield, including at least one new but established player will be in a position to live up to our expectations with a fluent tactical strategy in place as Antonio Conte takes this new generation Juventus from strength to strength. Vidal, Verratti, possibly Giovinco as well as Pirlo and Marchisio will possibly form the backbone of our MF.
Don't forget there will be some relatively active pruning of the squad in the coming weeks with probably 4 of the current squad due to be leaving us within 4/8 weeks