Paris Saint-Germain football advisor Luis Campos has spoken on the renewal of Lionel Messi ’s contract at the end of a summer transfer window with which he was not happy.
Campos joined the French champions in June in the role which the club described as entailing as "focus on the performance, recruitment, and organisational side" of the club. He oversaw a busy transfer window at the club, having been a de facto replacement for dismissed sporting director Leonardo.
PSG recruited six new players over the summer including midfield quartet Fabian Ruiz, Renato Sanches, Carlos Soler and Vitinha, alongside defender Nordi Mukiele and forward Hugo Ekitike on loan from Reims. Yet Campos has reflected that he was less than happy with how the window played out for the club.
Campos has also spoken of the future at the club, and their hopes of renewing the contract of Messi. The Argentine superstar completed his high-profile move from Barcelona to the Parisian club a year ago, while he is out of contract at the end of the current campaign.
Speaking of Messi’s time at PSG, Campos has said: “Last season was difficult for him. After being an icon in Barcelona for 20 years, he had to make a major life change, in a different place and in a different league than the Spanish one. He needed time.
“Now we see a Leo who will gradually reach the level we were used to. Will we renew his contract? We have to hope so of course but yes, but hopefully he can stay.”
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However, when speaking of the window that had just gone by – Campos struck a tone of frustration: “We did not have a good transfer window. The window is open for a long time…the first week we got Vitinha. After that, we had six or seven weeks with nothing. And in the last week, every player is much more expensive. From the moment that economic decisions condition football, it is not a good market.
“We reached the end of the market without the desired balance or perfection. We have a huge level of quality in the squad, without a doubt. Then, in the end, we did not reach perfection. It is always difficult to achieve perfection.”
He continued: “But we work to be as close to perfection as possible. The case of the central defenders was a serious problem for us. When we only have three central defenders, when we start playing with three central defenders, it puts us in difficulties. I'm not going to talk about names. We did not just talk to (Inter defender, Milan) Skriniar. In the end, we don't have the player we need. If we are missing a piece, the puzzle is not complete.”
PSG have won nine of their opening ten games this season across all competitions, and are currently top of Ligue 1 with 19 points from their first seven league games.
