Money has ruined football. When you hear this phrase, Paris Saint-Germain undoubtedly springs to mind. The Parisian club's recent recruitment of world-class talent has led many football purists to criticize their approach, arguing that this purely financial strategy undermines the competitiveness and enjoyment of the beautiful game.
However, PSG's expected dominance in Europe after attracting a host of continental stars hasn't materialised. To give you the full picture of the PSG project, we at Goal Reader Blog have put together this comprehensive article covering everything you need to know.
PSG Before the Qatari Takeover
The unprecedented financial muscle at the Parc des Princes began with Qatari businessman Nasser Al-Khelaifi's acquisition of the club in 2011.
Before that, PSG were far from the top-tier European clubs. Their continental appearances were limited to the Europa League, while domestically they were considered a decent Ligue 1 side.
Looking back to the 2010-11 season, their last before the Qatari era, PSG finished fourth in Ligue 1. The previous year, they failed to qualify for any European competition. That was the reality for PSG pre-takeover.
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PSG Under Nasser Al-Khelaifi
After Al-Khelaifi's takeover, PSG began bolstering their squad with star power. They brought in Swedish goal machine Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Brazilian defensive rock Thiago Silva from AC Milan in 2012, followed by South American dynamos Angel Di Maria and Edinson Cavani in subsequent years.
These signings helped PSG dominate domestically, but European success remained elusive, with the club only reaching the group stages of the Champions League.
When Did PSG's Crazy Spending Truly Start?
In 2017, PSG lost Ligue 1 to Monaco and suffered a shocking Champions League exit to Barcelona in the infamous "Remontada" at Camp Nou.
Al-Khelaifi realized that to conquer both domestic and European fronts, unprecedented spending was necessary.
The following season, PSG smashed the world transfer record by signing Brazilian superstar Neymar for €222 million - a fee that still tops the list of most expensive transfers in football history.
In the same window, they secured one of Europe's hottest young talents, Kylian Mbappé, from Ligue 1 champions Monaco.
PSG's unbelievable transfer activity has continued to this day, with marquee signings like Argentine legend Lionel Messi, Spanish warrior Sergio Ramos, and world-class keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma joining the ranks.
PSG's Project Reaches Its Peak
Let's take a look at what was arguably the strongest squad in PSG's history:
The PSG project hit its zenith in 2021 and 2022. The club managed to assemble a dream team that seemed impossible on paper.
For those who didn't witness it, it's hard to believe that Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, and Sergio Ramos all wore the same shirt!
Has the Paris Saint-Germain Project Failed and Ended?
Let's now look at the results of the amazing deals mentioned above for Paris Saint-Germain:
Paris Saint-Germain failed to achieve the desired goal of the previous deals, which was to win the UEFA Champions League. Despite Nasser Al-Khelaifi's management attracting names that the Parc des Princes audience could only dream of seeing with the team's lineup, the Champions League still eludes PSG's trophy cabinet.
The closest moment between Paris and its dream was in the 2019-2020 season, known as the Corona season, when the team managed to reach the Champions League final, before being eliminated by their German opponent Bayern Munich.
Before this final, and up until now, Paris remains unable to overcome everything required of it in the competition. Since 2018, the team has exited the tournament from the knockout stages at the hands of Spanish Real Madrid twice, while its other failures varied between falling against Manchester City and United, as well as the German giants Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
The Missing Piece in the Paris Saint-Germain Project, Lessons from Manchester City
Before we end our discussion in this article, let's identify the most important thing the Parisian project lacked:
"Bring the strongest possible names to the team's lineup, and then assign the task to a coach with a clear technical vision." It seems that the Parisian management only took the first part of this statement.
Paris Saint-Germain did not make the aforementioned signings based on the requests of their coaches, who were not aware of how to best utilize these names, but rather based solely on their stardom in global football.
The previous problem confirms that the team's management was aware of the importance of bringing a coach with high technical value to the team's bench. Therefore, they started negotiations at one point with the French coaching legend Zinedine Zidane, but Al-Khelaifi's financial temptation was met with refusal from Zizou.
In short, Paris Saint-Germain's management would have done well to learn from Manchester City's experience. Although the Citizens have always been the first to attract the most important stars in the world as soon as they shine, this was done under the clear vision of Spanish coach Pep Guardiola. This is what has contributed to Manchester City being classified as one of the most enjoyable and strongest systems in the European continent, with a clear technical style for everyone.
A late awakening for Paris Saint-Germain management
We end our discussion by looking at the current reality of Paris Saint-Germain:
Recently, the team's management contracted with former Spanish league attacking stars Marco Asensio and Ousmane Dembélé, in a move that confirms that the team's management, led by Luis Enrique, has begun to move towards attracting young elements to the Parc des Princes.
Through this previous step, Al-Khelaifi seems to realize that having players in the team's lineup with passion and desire to achieve collective and individual accomplishments with the team is much better than including legends who have already exhausted their passion in football fields, especially in light of a league with weak competitiveness like the French league.