Paris Saint-Germain’s long, winding and extremely expensive road to Champions League glory has taken yet another turn this summer.
Since completing their takeover of the Ligue 1 giants in 2011, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) have spent more than a billion pounds on transfers, but have yet to lift Europe’s biggest prize. Carlo Ancelotti, Laurent Blanc, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel and most recently Mauricio Pochettino have all tried, and failed to take PSG all the way.
Tuchel has come the closest to ending their quest, losing out in the final vs Bayern Munich in 2020, while Pochettino came up short in his two seasons in charge. The Argentine is now set to depart, with Christophe Galtier set to become the latest man to take his place in the Parc des Princes dugout.
He will of course inherit a richly assembled squad, including the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Sergio Ramos, but a new era also looks set to begin. Along with Pochettino’s exit, sporting director Leonardo was relieved of his duties, with Luis Campos taking on the position.
The Portuguese arrives with an unerring reputation of identifying young talent and building sides capable of upsetting the odds. In the last decade, Campos has been a thorn in the side of the PSG, helping Monaco and Lille to break their monopoly of the Ligue 1 title in 2017 and 2021 respectively.
And he has already begun to put his stamp on the playing squad with FC Porto midfielder Vitinha arriving in a deal worth £34m, with Lille’s Renato Sanches and Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar likely to follow him to the French capital.
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It’s a marked departure from the strategy implemented by his predecessor, which predominantly revolved around signing ageing global superstars to massive contracts. Just last summer, Messi, Ramos and Gini Wijnaldum - all over the age of 30 - signed on free transfers.
And a report from Le Parisien via GFFN has hinted that Leonardo was intending on carrying out another summer of high-profile arrivals. They suggest that PSG, had they not made the change at sporting director, would have been in the market for ex-Liverpool forward Sadio Mane.
The Senegalese forward has now completed a move to Bayern Munich, but would have been a target for the French champions. Along with Mane, it is claimed that Paul Pogba would have been on the radar.
The World Cup winner was tentatively linked with PSG prior to his Manchester United contract expiring, but is now set for a return to Juventus. Ousmane Dembele will have also likely been on the way, with the Barcelona ’s forward still uncertain amid contract negotiations.
Those links perhaps explain the thinking behind the change of director, with president Nasser Al-Khelaifi insisting he doesn’t want “flashy, bling-bling” at the club anymore. “Dreams are one thing, reality is another,” he said earlier this month.
“Perhaps we should change our slogan... dream bigger is good, but today we must be realistic, we don't want flashy, bling-bling anymore, it's the end of the glitter.”
