Guingamp vs Paris Saint Germain - Unai Emery: Paris is not falling out of love with Marco Verratti

Posted Saturday, December 17, 2016 by PA

Unai Emery insists Paris St Germain find it "easy to love" Marco Verratti amid rumoured interest for the Italy midfielder from Chelsea.

Chelsea are tipped to be among a nucleus of top European clubs itching to lure Verratti away from France - but manager Emery has reiterated the 24-year-old's importance at PSG.

Emery will take his third-placed team to Guingmap in Saturday's Ligue 1 clash, aiming for a win to heap the pressure on pacesetters Monaco and Nice.

"Marco Verratti is very important because very few players are capable of playing the way he does," said PSG boss Emery.

"He is one of the most important players because he has quality, heart and a positive frame of mind.

"It's easy to love a player like him. He wants to play all the time and, when he's out on the pitch, it's a real boost for the team."

Adrien Rabiot and Javier Pastore will miss the Guingamp clash, while Emery will make a late decision on Hatem Ben Arfa's fitness.

Emery has challenged his squad to step forward on the goalscoring front, admitting the Parisians are still feeling the pitch after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's summer switch to Manchester United.

"I think that we need to be more effective in attack," said Emery.

"We need other players to score goals. Last season Ibrahimovic and (Edinson) Cavani scored a lot.

"Ibra has left and Cavani is still scoring, but we need other players to step up.

"Lucas has some good stats in this area. We need more players who can score goals.

"That's an area where we need to improve."

Former PSG defender Antoine Kombouare was unseated as manager by the arrival of new Qatari owners in 2011, and replaced by Carlo Ancelotti.

The 53-year-old has guided Guingamp to sixth in Ligue 1 after taking the helm in the summer but admitted it will be tough to sustain that level.

"When you arrive at a club you do everything you can to start off well, but the hardest thing is to build on a good start," said Kombouare.

"The results are good at the moment and I'm becoming more demanding of my players.

"Our objective is to earn respect and we must be feared. We need to think about winning in every match we play and do everything we can in order to win every match.

"That's a barrier we still need to pass through."