Former PSG Director Reveals the Club Wanted to Sign Real Madrid Star Instead of Marco Verratti

Former Paris Saint-Germain director Leonardo has admitted that the club tried to sign Luka Modric from Tottenham back in 2012, before opting for Marco Verratti instead.

It's hard to imagine a time where transfer budgets were a problem for PSG. Having signed Neymar for a world record £222m in the summer, the French giants are proving that money is no fuss in Paris - but it hasn't always been like that.

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While the Qatari investment in 2011 proved massive for the club - signing the likes of Thiago Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ezequiel Lavezzi for a combined fee of €91m. As a result, PSG were forced to budget for a midfielder; they could no longer afford the €30m Luka Modric - their main target:

"It was not possible," former PSG director Leonardo told French TV program Canal Football Club (via the Mirror). "We had signed Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic and Modric maybe it was too much...

"So we went for something more viable and we were all convinced of the Verratti option."

While Modric moved to Real Madrid, Verratti made his way from Pescara to Paris - costing only €12m for the Ligue 1 outfit.

Six years on and Luka Modric has made his way into FIFA's team of the year for the third time in a row. The Croatian is likely to go down in Madrid history, and played a crucial role in securing three Champions League trophies for the club.

With that being said, Verratti hasn't turned out too badly either. The Italian has become one of the most sought after midfielders in the game, and has been a key player for PSG in the last few years - collecting four Ligue 1 titles along the way.