When Mourinho was manager of Tottenham Hotspur he wanted Campos as sporting director. It is a key task for sporting director Luis Campos although, interestingly, there is renewed talk that he wants to replace Galtier with Jose Mourinho who he first worked with at Real Madrid and was in the running last year after Mauricio Pochettino was sacked. PSG also point to two 17-year-olds – the hugely exciting Warren Zaire-Emery (born in Montreuil, to the eastern suburbs of Paris) and El Chadaille Bitshiabu (from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges to the south) – playing against Bayern Munich, albeit in being knocked out of the Champions League, as examples of encouraging young players. Although Galtier has struggled since the turn of the year and may not survive, bringing in a French coach was regarded as a part of the change of direction. Hiring Christophe Galtier was part of that thinking. The Qatari has a saying of “collective interest over individual interest” and wants that to apply to PSG with a change of culture. Persuading Mbappe to sign a new contract last summer, fighting off Real Madrid to do so, was part of a new policy masterminded by PSG’s president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Still he is likely to prove the exception. He is a good influence around the dressing room and, given his age, may be prepared to be less of a regular starter and more of a squad player. Ramos is also not on the same level of salary as the other super-stars and is relatively low maintenance. While there is interest in him from the Premier League it still appears to be a monumentally tricky deal to land.Īlso out of contract this summer is Sergio Ramos although it seems PSG are keen to keep the 37-year-old Spanish defender especially given the centre-half they have signed for the summer, Milan Skriniar from Inter Milan, has been out injured and there is no guarantee he will be fit for the start of next season. The forward signed a new three-year deal in 2021, after being persuaded by PSG to stay despite his efforts to return to Barcelona, and it included two additional 12-month extensions which have been triggered. Broadly, though, he does not fit into the future approach.Įven so, Neymar’s contract was automatically extended on July 1, 2022, taking him up to 2027 when he will be 35. Moving on the Brazilian may prove problematic and it is a sensitive, complicated issue. PSG are now shedding Messi - there is no desire for him to sign the 12-month contract extension that has been on the table since January - and are prepared to sell Neymar. PSG have had two seasons of the triumvirate of Mbappe, Messi and Neymar and while it has been an extraordinary combination it has not delivered the Holy Grail of a Champions League triumph. Messi even made money for PSG – estimated at around €10million net gain in his first year when sponsorship deals and commercial uplift were factored in – but that has not proven to be enough when set against the relative disappointment on the pitch. Lionel Messi was never exactly “bling” but he was a big name, the biggest name, and while the feeling within PSG is that his two years have been a reasonable success, not least because he signed on an opportunistic free transfer on half his Barcelona wages, it is time to move on. They are turning away from the “bling bling” signings who have blighted the club and are determined to build a young, hungry team – with a French core – built around Kylian Mbappe. At Paris Saint-Germain they are heading in a different direction.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |