Lionel Messi's stay in France ends disappointingly. Photo: Reuters/Sarah Meissonier
At Paris Saint-Germain they go in a different direction. They are turning away from the 'posh' signings that have hurt the club and are determined to create a young, hungry team with a French core based on Kylian Mbappe.
Lionel Messi has never been particularly 'posh', but he was big name, the biggest name, and while PSG consider his two years to be a reasonable success, not least because he signed a free transfer deal for half of his Barcelona. salaries, it's time to move on.
Messi even made money for PSG — a net worth estimated at around 10 million euros in his first year when sponsorship deals and commercial growth are factored in — but it hasn't proven effective. will be enough amid relative disappointment on the pitch.
PSG have had two seasons of Mbappe, Messi and Neymar's triumvirate, and while it was an extraordinary combination, it didn't produce the Holy Grail of Champions League triumph.
PSG are now losing Messi — he has no desire to sign the 12-month contract extension that has been on the table since January and he is ready to sell Neymar. Switching to Brazilian can be problematic, and it's a delicate, complex issue. However, in general, it does not fit into the future approach.
Despite this, Neymar's contract was automatically renewed on 1 July 2022, extending it until 2027, when he turns 35. The striker signed a new three-year contract in 2021 after PSG convinced him to stay despite his efforts to rejoin the team. Barcelona and included two additional 12-month extensions that were initiated.
Despite the Premier League showing interest in him, closing a deal still seems to be an extremely difficult task.
p>< p>Sergio Ramos' contract ended this summer, although it seems PSG are keen to keep the 37-year-old Spanish defender, especially as the centre-back they signed for the summer, Milan Skrinjar from Inter Milan, has been injured. There is no guarantee that he will be fit for the start of next season.
Ramos is also not at the same salary level as other superstars and requires relatively little maintenance. He has a good influence in the dressing room and, given his age, he may be ready to play not so much in the starting XI, but in the team.
However, he is likely to be the exception. Persuading Mbappe to sign a new contract last summer while fighting off Real Madrid was part of a new policy devised by PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
The partnership between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé will not last long. Photo: Getty Images/Jean Catuffe
The Qataris have a saying «the collective interest over the individual» and he wants this applied to PSG with a culture change. Hiring Christophe Galtier was part of that mindset. Although Galtier has struggled since the start of the year and may not survive, bringing in a French coach was seen as part of a change in direction.
PSG also points to two 17-year-olds — the very interesting Warren Zaire-Emery (born in Montreuil , in the eastern suburbs of Paris) and El Chadail Bitciabou (from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges in the south) — playing against Bayern Munich, albeit eliminated from the Champions League, as examples of encouraging young players.
This is a key task for sporting director Luis Campos, although, interestingly, there has been renewed speculation that he wants to replace Galtier José Mourinho, whom he first worked with at Real Madrid and ran for office last year after Mauricio Pochettino was sacked. When Mourinho was manager of Tottenham Hotspur, he wanted Campos to become sporting director.
However, Mourinho does not seem to fit into PSG's new policies, which are also partly affected by the financial constraints they are facing. because they comply with UEFA rules. .
The key to this is to improve PSG's resilience and in particular all recent transfer windows have been built around youth and free transfers. This control partly explains why they never bid for Jude Bellingham, who looks set to join Real Madrid, or Harry Kane.
Change should accelerate this summer as more young players are signed, especially French players, we hope. PSG are well aware that the Parisian metropolis produces more players than any region in Europe, but few of them play in their colours.
Mbappe from the suburbs of Bondy will remain the jewel in the crown. . The 24-year-old is irreplaceable in the eyes of Al-Khelaifi and the team will be built around him. With Mbappé now captaining France, this shows his growing importance to the club and country, and PSG will do everything they can to keep him.
There is also a recognition that between players and fans, and that is — with a policy change to also increase discipline — partly behind the decision to suspend Messi for two weeks for his unauthorized, untimely and thoughtless trip to Saudi Arabia.
Indeed, PSG ultras called for a protest outside the club's office. «The time has come for a change and the Paris Saint-Germain institution to rediscover its soul, its Parisian spirit and its splendor,» the CUP (Collectif Ultras Paris) said in a statement, which is largely in line with what the club is about. . I'm doing it now.
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