Last season perhaps marked a turning point in PSG’s Qatari project. After having spent colossal sums on the transfer market to afford the best stars of world football from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi, the Parisian club decided to change its method when handing over the reins. of the club to Luis Enrique and Luis Campos. The two men had to lay the foundations of a new project, one less bling-bling, more collective.
The Spanish coach, with his ideas of play and his desire not to rely on a single player, and the Portuguese leader, thanks to his network, had to build a competitive and more united team. Because after trying to stack the names to afford the C1, without success, PSG hoped to succeed differently. But after a year and a half, it is clear that the project already has limits. This season, and for the first time in a long time, PSG has never seemed so little feared in Europe. With 4 points in 4 matches (including 3 at home) in the Champions League with a pitiful 25th place in the standings, Paris is in trouble and the squad, with this absence of number 9, leaves one perplexed.
Qatar much less invested
What calls into question the QSI project? Not really. The Team thus reveals that on the Doha side, we observe the club’s situation with a certain distance “because the interest and demands before the 2022 World Cup are no longer the same”. QSI wants to invest less in the club, even if it has dropped more than 550 million in two years (excluding sales). Proof of this new course, a surprising elimination in January in the Champions League would not push Qatar to change its plans with Luis Enrique and the club’s new project.
The capital club justifies this choice by the desire to be in continuity, explaining that the instability of the past did not make it possible to win this coveted Champions League either. Nasser al-Khelaifi’s speech has also changed since he also seems to be more tolerant. After this defeat against Atlético de Madrid, the president of PSG felt that the club was in the right direction. The French daily explains that this speech clearly confirms the desire to accept this European downgrading and to accept no longer being a giant of European football for a few years. But not sure that this will really please the Parisian supporters.
