The strange clause included in a former Paris Saint-Germain superstar's contract in the Middle East has now reportedly been revealed.
PSG completed a major overhaul of their squad ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, seeing the likes of Neymar, Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, and Julian Draxler, among others, leave the club.
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This came after yet another season without the club winning the UEFA Champions League, a trophy its Qatari owners are desperate to win since their takeover in 2011.
Among those who left is playmaker Marco Verratti. The Italian joined Qatari club Al Arabi in a deal worth €44 million (R900 million) in September after he was reportedly told by new PSG manager Luis Enrique that he is not part of the coach's plans.
However, despite his rather sad end in the French capital, Verratti is now believed to be making recurring visits to Paris thanks to an uncanny clause included in his contract with his latest team.
According to L'Equipe, a clause in Verratti's contract at Al Arabi allows the player to fly out from Qatar to Paris to visit for a few days, sometimes as much as a week, every month.
This is said to be regardless of whether the club is training or not, but the 31-year-old is entitled do this without being handed any sanctions or disciplinary action.
Having spent 11 years at PSG, he won 30 trophies with Les Parisiens, and before moving to Qatar, he was linked with a move to Manchester United but ultimately decided he did not want to represent another European team due to his affinity to PSG and the city.
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According to ESPN, upon joining Al Arabi, Verratti said: "I didn't want to go to another team in Europe where I could face PSG. I wanted this to be my last team.
"I will live in Paris all my life. My family, my children, stayed here. When I have free days, I come back just to stay in Paris!"
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