How PSGs squad compares to Europes elite and how they added 10 Champions League titles thi
Paris Saint-Germain have dominated the headlines for their activity in the transfer window this summer.
Fuelled by their Qatari ownership, the club have been able to compete with the likes of Manchester City in spending astronomical sums of money on some of the best players in Europe for nearly a decade, but their current squad now resembles a French reincarnation of the Real Madrid Galactico era. Les Galactiques, if you will.
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In the eyes of many, you may as well hand PSG the Ligue 1 title now despite having played just one league game this season. The signing of Lionel Messi has obviously blown every other summer transfer out of the water this window — and understandably so, given his unearthly contribution in the game over the past 17 years — but it’s not just in attack that PSG have boosted their already ridiculous pool of talent during the off-season.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have landed multiple key signings this summer, with the additions of three high-profile free transfers in Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from AC Milan, Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid and Georginio Wijnaldum from Liverpool.
Add in the £51.3 million signing of 22-year-old full-back Achraf Hakimi from Inter Milan and the £15 million fee to make Danilo Pereira’s loan move from Porto permanent, and PSG sporting director Leonardo can be very happy with his business.
As you can see below, the age profile of the PSG squad does look balanced overall with a blend of youth, peak-aged players (24-29 years), and experience in their ranks. It is worth noting that the additions of Messi, Ramos and Wijnaldum — all of whom are older than 30 years old — are likely to boost that average age of a typical starting XI within the season. That is alongside the players already at the club, with the likes of Idrissa Gueye (31), Ander Herrera (32) and Angel Di Maria (33) all on the wrong side of 30, and the (now-former) main man Neymar, who is turning 30 in February.
It would be foolish not to suggest that this is a squad assembled very much to win now — of course on the domestic front where are they are all-but guaranteed to regain their Ligue 1 title from current champions, Lille — but also on the European stage where expectations of a Champions League title have now significantly increased.
Per Transfermarkt, there are 35 players in the PSG squad, which is one of the highest cohorts across Europe’s top five leagues. Granted, some of those players are youth prospects such as 16-year-old defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu, who will be happy to remain on the fringes of the first team across the season. Pochettino actually named no fewer than four teenagers on the bench in PSG’s 2-1 victory against Troyes last weekend, as some of his “big hitters” are returning from their international duty and/or injury.
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Nevertheless, 35 players still makes for a swollen squad that Pochettino will be tasked with trimming down. The rules surrounding UEFA’s financial fair play regulations is not something to drill down on now, but The Athletic understands that the sizeable investment in Messi means there would be as many as ten players who PSG would listen to offers for this summer to free up the wage bill, including Abdou Diallo, Thilo Kehrer, Gueye, Rafinha and Mauro Icardi.
That being said, as things stand the strength in depth that PSG have is nothing short of ludicrous across the whole pitch. Looking through their squad position-by-position, you could very easily make the case for two different starting XI’s without witnessing a significant drop-off in quality.
This starts with the man chosen between the sticks, as Pochettino now has two world-class goalkeepers at his disposal with the new arrival of Donnarumma casting doubt over the place of three-time Champions League winner Keylor Navas, who has been particularly strong for PSG in recent seasons.
It goes on. Assuming all are injury-free, how do you fit Presnel Kimpembe, Ramos and Marquinhos into a centre-back pairing? Or do you play them as a back three and allow Diallo and Hakimi to push on as wing-backs? How would that then affect the dynamic in midfield, where Herrera, Paredes, Pereira, Gueye and Marco Verratti all have a legitimate claim to be regular starters? There are so many good problems to have here.
And that’s before we even concern ourselves with the headline “issue” of the forward line and how that dynamic would work in practice. The advantage PSG have, of course, is the flexibility in which their forward players can operate, where you could make the case for Neymar, Mbappe or Messi to play anywhere in the key forward areas.
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One the key challenges Pochettino faces will be working out a functional system that is actually tactically robust, rather than something resembling a FIFA Dream Team. Pochettino has largely played a 4-2-3-1 since he arrived in Paris, although last weekend’s formation in the Ligue 1 opener resembled more of a 4-3-1-2. While the system will no doubt be fluid given the quality on the pitch, a 3-5-2, a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 are all feasible options.
But this brings us on to the second challenge, which will be keeping so many star players happy in the amount of minutes they play. The squad itself has a wealth of international players who have been ever-present for their country in recent years, with four players — Ramos, Messi, Di Maria and Neymar — all boasting more than 100 international caps apiece.
With players of such global status, no-one will be content with a place on the bench and it may be a case of Pochettino having to manage egos at times. The Argentine possesses a squad that has comfortably more international caps in the squad compared with some of PSG’s European counterparts.
You might argue that the quartet of Ramos, Messi, Di Maria and Neymar would be dragging up the total, but looking at the average number of caps per international player, you can see the experience that the PSG squad have between them — highlighted, no less, by a 22-year-old Kylian Mbappe already amassing a staggering 48 appearances for his country.
Of course, international caps do not guarantee you success at club level, but there is little doubt that this PSG squad has been assembled for a fresh assault on the Champions League this year — realistically, the greatest chance they have ever had.
Under Thomas Tuchel, PSG were runners-up in 2019-20 and arguably should have won the game against Bayern Munich in Lisbon, but they will be confident in their chances this year as one of the favourites to get their hands on the trophy for the first time in the club’s history.
With the addition of Wijnaldum, Ramos, Hakimi and Messi this summer, PSG have pumped in an additional ten Champions League titles to the squad. That brings a total of 16 European titles when you add Navas (3), Rafinha (1), Neymar (1), and Di Maria (1) to the tally. So while PSG are yet to bring a Champions League back to the French capital as a team, there is a growing number of players in the squad who know what it takes to become the champions of Europe.
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If Pochettino can get that dynamic right within the squad, it will set them up tremendously to go one further on the European stage. Amongst the traditional favourites to win the competition, Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid are seemingly the weakest they have been for some time, Bayern Munich will be adapting to the new regime of Julian Nagelsmann, and an ageing Juventus were fortunate to scrape into the Champions League places at the end of last season, meaning a genuine challenge for European honours might be unrealistic.
Therefore, the biggest threat to PSG in Europe looks likely to come from an English side, evidenced not least by last season’s Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City.
Starting with the reigning champions, Chelsea’s 37-man squad could also do with a bit of pruning, with the likes of Danny Drinkwater and Michi Batshuayi deemed surplus to requirements and Tammy Abraham on the verge of a move away from Stamford Bridge.
With the addition of Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea now have more of a cutting edge at the top end of the field, which was lacking last season despite their European success. The age profile of the attacking players in particular looks to be in good shape for many years to come, and with Tuchel entering his first full season at the helm, Chelsea should not be underestimated when it comes to retaining their European title this year.
Meanwhile, fellow rich kids Manchester City actually look rather light at the very top end of the field, with Gabriel Jesus the only senior striker on the books following the departure of Sergio Aguero. It is no secret that City are in the market for a certain striker, and you feel that they would need to get someone over the line this summer to mount a credible challenge.
Using the likes of Kevin De Bruyne in a false nine role was effective in the short term but was never going to be a long-term solution for Pep Guardiola, and despite the depth and healthy age profile of their squad, you’d imagine that Guardiola could only dream of having any one of Neymar, Messi or Mbappe in his ranks to support at that top end.
City have added Jack Grealish to the ranks this summer, and no doubt have a gluttony of creative players who are capable of finding the back of the net themselves, but don’t currently have that player who is deadly in front of goal.
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Finally, perhaps a less likely challenger for European glory would be Liverpool. Not less likely due to their quality as a squad, but last season’s evidence showed just how significantly they were rocked by injuries to key players. If they can have a bit more luck on the fitness front and get back to the form they showed in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, you wouldn’t bet against Liverpool going very far in the competition.
Liverpool will be hoping that Diogo Jota can stay injury-free for the season which will allow Jurgen Klopp to rotate his so-called traditional front three more regularly. Elsewhere, the midfield looks particularly well stacked should any injuries arise throughout the season.
With the aforementioned Wijnaldum now wearing PSG colours, Thiago will be hoping to build a consistent run of form this season alongside Fabinho and Jordan Henderson as the likely first choice three. Beyond that trio, any one of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita, James Milner, and Curtis Jones are able to deputise within Klopp’s midfield system, with teenager Harvey Elliot also impressing during pre-season in a “free eight” creative midfield role. Finally, the obvious return of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez in central defence will be a sight that Liverpool fans will be praying to see regularly throughout next season, with extra defensive quality added this summer in the shape of Ibrahima Konate.
Put simply, PSG’s squad looks scarily strong. On paper, one of — if not the — strongest in Europe. The enviable task that Pochettino now has is to find the best way to make that squad work coherently and allow some of the world’s best players to do what they do best.
(Photo: BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images)
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