Football is a simple game, at least according to Bill Shankly, but chasing success in the sport is far more nuanced and complicated than signing the best players in the world. Just ask any Paris Saint-Germain supporter.
As Kylian Mbappe prepares to wave farewell to the Parc de Princes, having this week told the club his desire to leave in the summer, he represents the last domino of PSG’s lucrative dynasty to fall.
The World Cup winner has given Real Madrid the green light to sign him in the summer after publicly refusing to sign another contract extension with the French giants, indicating his wish to move to the Bernabeu on a free transfer when his current deal expires.
It marks a catastrophic blow for the reigning Ligue 1 champions, who have invested significantly in the Parisian since his initial move to the club, and calls an end to the club’s disappointing era of heavy spending.
Hell-bent on dominating Europe and establishing a super team for the ages, PSG’s Qatari owners loosened their purse strings like no-one before them in 2017, luring Barcelona‘s Neymar for a world record fee of £190million and French wonderkid Mbappe from Monaco for £163m.
Kylian Mbappe has told Paris Saint-Germain his decision to leave the club in the summer
PSG’s lucrative trio Mbappe (middle), Lionel Messi (left) and Neymar (right) were hoped to create the next Galacticos in Paris but ultimately failed to triumph in the Champions League
The French giants signed Neymar for a world record fee of £190million in the summer of 2017
Partnering the French giants’ new dynamic duo over the next few years, the likes of Mauro Icardi, Leandro Paredes, Abdou Diallo and Thilo Kehrer all arrived at the club for transfer fees in the region of £30m or more. Each and every one of those signings proved a disappointment.
After successive Champions League exits in the last 16 during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns, PSG finally reached the final of the tournament for the first time in their history.
It seemed for all the world that the Qatari-funded club, guided by attacking gems Neymar and Mbappe, would finally lift European silverware – but Bayern Munich snatched a narrow 1-0 victory in the final.
Strike one.
After exiting in the semi-finals to Manchester City the following year, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi doubled down with the capture of Lionel Messi from Barcelona in August 2021. A final…