Best Alternatives to Marco Verratti

Playing Style Analysis

Verratti remains one of the most distinctive midfield brains in the game—a player who orchestrates tempo not through athleticism but through touch, angle, and anticipation. In the Stars League, his 77.7 passes per 90 places him in the top 5%, but the more revealing number is 14.00 passes into the final third per 90—also top 5%—meaning he isn't just recycling possession, he's consistently threading it forward. His tackles won rate sits in the top 5% too, which reframes the narrative: this isn't a fragile technician who avoids contact, he wins the ball back. The three closest DNA matches to Marco Verratti:

• Nabil Bentaleb(86% match) — A Metronome. Statistically, he stands out as naturally left-footed, meticulous in distribution (87% pass accuracy), heavily involved in possession (64 passes/90), penetrates with forward passing (11.6 final-third passes/90), central to possession (78 touches/90), switches play with precision (6.1 long balls/90, 63% accuracy) and active off the ball (2.7 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions.
• Paul Pogba(84% match) — A Creator. Statistically, he stands out as comfortable with both feet, an elite creator (1.6 key passes/90), a prolific assist provider (0.60 assists/90) and a dynamic dribbler (2.6/90).
• Danilo Cataldi(83% match) — A Ball-Winner. Statistically, he stands out as a capable chance creator (1.1 key passes/90), meticulous in distribution (85% pass accuracy), wins the physical battle (59% duel success), heavily involved in play (62 touches/90) and active off the ball (2.5 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions.

Similarity uses per-90 performance across playing-style dimensions. How Player DNA matching works →