It is never an easy decision to make, but Marco Verratti sacrificed his place at the UEFA 2016 European Championship this summer, and now the Italian midfielder is on the road to recovery. Once back to 100 percent, the little maestro will be the man tasked with being the face of Paris Saint-Germain and the general in new manager Unai Emery’s regime.

“The operation will take place in Doha on 16 May at the Aspetar Centre—the club’s official medical partner. The midfielder, who recently extended his contract until 2020, is expected to be sidelined for eight weeks,” the club announced in an official statement (via the Guardian).

“As a result Marco Verratti will play no part in Paris Saint-Germain’s final matches of the season, or Euro 2016, to be held in France between 10 June and 10 July. Paris Saint-Germain wishes the player a speedy recovery and hopes he will soon be fully fit and back to his best for both club and country.”

All signs suggest that the surgery was a success and the player has been back in training. The 23-year-old didn’t travel to Austria with his team-mates; it was decided that he would stay in Paris and continue his individual work.

“The Euros were an objective of mine, as I am part of a great national team, they had faith in me and I felt very important,” Verratti told news agency Ansa in May (h/t Football Italia).

“I suffered a great deal when learning I’d have to miss the tournament due to injury, but football is like that. Now I just need to focus on recovering as quickly as possible.”

Since their return to the Camp des Loges last week, Marco is back with the group and is expected to travel to across the Atlantic, to take part in PSG’s North American tour.

When Hatem Ben Arfa signed on a free, it was expected that the former Nice playmaker would take on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s vacant No. 10 jersey, but apparently, it has already been promised to one of his team members.

There has been no confirmation just yet, but it is reportedly between Verratti and Javier Pastore. If handed to the Italian, it would be a huge indication as to just how important the former Pescara player is regarded by Unai Emery.

Verratti already wears No. 6, that was changed last summer from No. 24, there is no real need to change numbers again, but the iconic No. 10 would symbolise his position in the squad and could leave a hint as to where he could play this season.

PSG’s training camp in Austria was capped off with a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion. The French side started the game playing 4-2-3-1, the expected formation that Emery will likely play when Ligue 1 gets under way at the start of August.

“We’ve been working for 10 days now, and I’m very happy with what we’ve accomplished so far,” declared coach Unai Emery after the opening game of the pre-season preparations, as reported on the club website.

New signing, Grzegorz Krychowiak, was expected to partner Verratti at the base of the midfield, but that would mean that the Spanish boss would have six players trying to compete for two positions.

Blaise Matuidi, Adrien Rabiot, Benjamin Stambouli, Christopher Nkunku, plus Verratti and Krychowiak can all play that role. It would perhaps ruffle some feathers among the squad if that was the pecking order for the new campaign.

Manchester United, per L’Equipe (h/t The Independent), have been linked with a move for Matuidi if their pursuit of Paul Pogba doesn’t come to fruition, which would reduce PSG’s competition, but for now, Emery is spoiled for options.

One move could be to push Verratti a little further forward, using him as a hybrid between a traditional No. 10 and his more familiar deep-lying playmaker role. This would give him the freedom to push higher up the pitch, but also let him do what he does best.

No matter the formation, Verratti will continually look for the ball. The Italian sets the tone and dictates PSG’s tempo. That looked quicker under Emery as it had under Blanc, and once the more established first-team players are introduced, it will be intriguing to see how all the parts fit.

Blanc’s 4-3-3, at times, looked stale and lacking ideas, but with Krychowiak adding a more dynamic base to the midfield, Matuidi allowed to burst from the left of the base and Verratti allowed to roam and find space, there will be more room for the attacking players to operate.

“For the moment, we’re observing and analysing what there is that we can improve on. Assistant coach, Juan Carlos Carcedo told the official website on Monday. “The team has been getting fantastic results over the last few seasons. So we’ll try to do at least as well, while improving on some details. The objective is to construct a real team that can make the supporters proud.”

When Pastore played as a No. 10, Ibrahimovic often pushed him out of the way—the two rarely gelled when played together. With Verratti as the most advanced central midfielder, there would be space to cut inside from the wings for Pastore, Ben Arfa and Angel Di Maria, bringing more movement across the pitch and asking more questions of defenders.

Verratti has often been criticised for the lack of assists he provides for the team—just 18 in five seasons—moving him forward, giving him licence to pull the trigger and his already outstanding ability on the pitch could become even greater.

PSG resumed training in Paris on Saturday, they will travel to the west coast of America this week, before training at their base in Los Angeles on Thursday ahead of their match with Inter Milan at the Autzen Stadium in Eugene on Sunday 24.

That will be their first fixture in this summer’s International Champions Cup, where they will also face Real Madrid and Leicester City later in the month.

We should have a better idea after those three games just how Unai Emery intends to line up his team this season. The most important thing this term is flexibility. It’s not just about the players he uses, but that he mixes up where they play, and he must not let the team and his tactics become predictable.

Playing Verratti as the No. 10 would throw up a whole new dimension for the Spanish boss and could be exactly what PSG need to make their assault on Europe this campaign.

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