WITH the Ligue 1 title won and a place in the last four of the UEFA Champions League awaiting, not to mention the Coupe de France final in May, Paris Saint-Germain could be on the brink of their greatest season in 2023-24. PSG clinched their latest championship without playing; Monaco were beaten 3-2 by Lyon, leaving them 12 points behind Les Parisiens with three games to go.
It’s all a little ironic that PSG may become champions of Europe just as the spotlight on them seems to have dimmed a little. Lionel Messi and Neymar have both gone, Kylian Mbappé is on his way in the summer and their coach, Luis Enrique, seems to keep a lower profile than some of his predecessors. The Galactico era has passed in Paris, the secret of success, it would seem, is teamwork and younger, team players. The egos may be smaller, but PSG have only been beaten once in the league this season – at home to Nice – and they got past Barcelona, a bête noire if ever there was one, in the Champions League. PSG may not realise it, but sometimes, keeping out of the headlines can be a good thing.
Winning, for all its celebrations, can become monotonous and PSG have won over 70% of their league games since 2012-13, but the real prize they are pursuing is the Champions League. Ligue 1 was never in doubt in 2023-24 but after making hard work of the group stage of the UCL, they are now favourites to make it to their second final.
There is something a little less restless about PSG this season – they have been desperate to win in Europe to give credibility to their off-the-shelf status, just as Chelsea and Manchester City were anxious to climb to the summit of European football. PSG are the only one of that trio not to have won the cup with oversize ears.
Enrique seems to be relatively happy at PSG and the club have openly said they want to build something long-term, sustainable and meaningful with the former Barca coach. Such comments can normally be taken with a pinch of salt as sentiment can change very quickly and often irrationally. They have been through headliner coaches such as Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti, Mauricio Pochettino and Unai Emery and also tried the left-field approach with Christoph Galtier, and there’s never been much of a hint of longevity about any of their appointments. But not one of these coaches won the Champions League. On the eve of the semi-finals, Enrique can still do that, but in a week, the mood may have evaporated a little.
PSG’s financials also suggest the club is possibly maturing. Their revenues for 2022-23 totalled € 807 million, up from € 670 in 2021-22. Their pre-tax loss for the season was € 107 million compared to € 375 million a year earlier. The club benefitted to the tune of € 200 million from the league’s deal with CVC Capital Partners in which 13% of Ligue’s commercial subsidiary was sold to the Luxembourg-based private equity firm.
The signs are that PSG’s financial position will benefit from a clear-out of some of the club’s big earners. They were fortunate to off-load Neymar to Saudi Arabia for € 90 million and the Qatar Stars League has taken Marco Verratti, Julian Draxler and Abdou Diallo off their hands. PSG’s wage bill went down around € 100 million, representing 77% of income. In 2021-22, player salaries were 109% of total revenues.
PSG can still attract almost anyone they wish, but the confusion of the Neymar-Messi period may have damaged their reputation as serious contenders. Mbappé was determined to leave and Enrique has tried to show him who the boss really is at the club by occasionally benching him. The tabloids like to promote stories that the two characters do not get on too well, but mostly, there is not much substance to these revelations. Certainly Mbappé has been an essential component of the team and not just because of his 26 Ligue 1 goals.
PSG will get nothing for Mbappé’s move to Real Madrid on a free transfer, which must irritate the club, but it was always going to be that way. Doubtless PSG will attempt to bring in some big names to compensate for Mbappé but it would seem unlikely they will go down the Galactico route again. Names currently being linked with the club include Victor Osimhen (Napoli), Marcus Thuram (Inter), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Jamal Musiala (Bayern), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) and Dušan Vlahović (Juventus).
PSG have some very promising younger players that will surely form the nucleus of the team in the coming year, such as Warren Zaïre-Emery – one of the most exciting players under the age of 20 in Europe – Lee Kang-In, Vitinha and Manuel Ugarte.
With the league title now tucked away, the next few weeks could deliver PSG’s finest hour or merely provide more disappointment. Is this time really different for the French champions?
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 