Since the arrival of Qatar Sport Investment (QSI), Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has become one of the most prominent football clubs in France and Europe. Thanks to a crazy transfer policy just to make it big in Europe, several football stars were brought in. But their dream of winning the Champions League title is always nil.
PSG were very close to their dream in 2020 when they made it to the Champions League final under Thomas Tuchel. However, they were defeated by Bayern Munich 1-0 through a goal by Kingsley Coman, who incidentally was a former PSG player.
The following season, Tuchel was sacked due to a dispute with the club’s directors and was replaced by Mauricio Pochettino. Together with Pochettino, they are once again close to a first Champions League title. Unfortunately, PSG’s move was stopped by a wealthy British team, Manchester City in the semifinals. Unfortunately for PSG, Tuchel, whom they sacked, actually won with Chelsea that year.
After failing in the finals and semifinals, PSG tried to find shortcuts by bringing in superstar Lionel Messi in the 2021 season. At first, Messi’s arrival looked very profitable and brought hope. At that time, PSG was branded as the team that won the 2021 summer transfer market by ESPN because they had managed to bring in four stars apart from Messi, namely Georginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi and Sergio Ramos.
PSG is considered very lucky to get Messi because apart from offering the best football maturity, it can also help PSG in terms of marketing. In fact, from a business perspective, PSG did make big profits. Messi also succeeded in raising the prestige of this Paris team, especially on social media.
PSG’s official Twitter has reached 800 thousand followers after Messi’s arrival. Even on TikTok it hits 40 million. Not to mention they also get the spotlight through Messi’s 400 million more Instagram followers. “Off the field, we grew everywhere,” club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told The Athletic.
Apart from that, Messi has also brought many benefits to QSI thanks to the success of the World Cup which was held in Qatar. The performance of Messi and PSG star from France, Kylian Mbappe managed to take all the spotlight in the Qatar World Cup final.
Thanks to the brilliant performance of his two stars at the World Cup, Nasser Al Khelaifi has great hopes that PSG can achieve various successes this season. “2023 will be our most successful year for PSG,” he was quoted as saying by The Athletic.
At this point, as a business, it can be said that Messi’s transfer is very profitable. At least from a business standpoint. But in terms of football, PSG’s achievements were far from what he expected.
Who would have thought that PSG, which has three of the world’s top strikers, is the captain of Madrid, who has won the Champions League five times and is judged to have the best summer in 2021, and is actually unable to say much about Europe. It’s even more complicated because Messi’s transfer is very far from expectations.
The captain of the Argentine National Football Team has not shown the performance at all like in Barcelona and Argentina in his two seasons defending PSG. Messi was unable to fulfill PSG’s ambitions because PSG’s steps always ran aground in the last 16 of the Champions League in two seasons.
Indeed, this defeat is not entirely Messi’s fault. At least if you look at his individual statistics, which have increased compared to his first season at PSG. At the beginning of Messi’s arrival, the many expectations from fans were normal for a mega star who is on a different level in the world of football.
As a fan, of course you have high hopes to see Messi’s best actions on the field, especially if you see his slick performance in the World Cup. But as a result, Messi and PSG’s performances actually decreased at crucial times.
When compared to his performance at Barcelona, this is indeed not the best version of La Pulga. Moreover, this is the first time for him to play for a club other than Barcelona, which he has defended from a young age. His first year at PSG was very difficult, this is shown by his individual statistics which only scored 11 goals and 15 assists from 34 matches. Very far from expected from a megastar.
However it spiked in its second season. Until the end of the season, Messi has contributed 41 goals and assists from the 40 matches he has played. Perhaps PSG’s big mistake was not anticipating the worst that could happen, such as the hurricane of injuries that hit after the World Cup.
The players bought in the last two summer transfer markets were very disappointing, even though they were considered to have the best summer in 2021. Even more disappointing, only two years later, PSG’s five best purchases in 2021 actually three of them have left the club, including Messi.
Messi still plays a role in defending the Ligue 1 title, and it will be difficult to replace his individual statistics this season. Messi was the team’s best player before and during the World Cup. He recorded seven goals and 10 assists in a series of 22 PSG’s winning streak before the World Cup. However, after the tournament ended, when PSG needed him, he disappeared. He seemed to show that Argentina and the World Cup are more important than the club.
The decline in performance after Messi won the biggest ambition of his career in football, namely winning the World Cup with Argentina. This ambition is understandable because the World Cup was the only title that Messi had not yet collected at that time. On the other hand, this is contrary to the ambitions of PSG and its fans because it proves that Messi does not have an emotional bond with the club.
He even chose the Coldplay concert rather than take part in the French best player award night. Finally, he walked right into the locker room when his last match for the French side was over. PSG fans have never been able to enjoy the talent and emotional connection with the legend like they did in Barcelona and Argentina.
In the end, the togetherness between Messi and PSG did look promising at the start but seemed meaningless in terms of achievements on the field. Especially in Europe, this deal means nothing to PSG. This is perhaps the reason for the change in policy from the club that is the pride of the Parisians.
If they want to get what they have always dreamed of – the Champions League, now is not the time to waste money on mega stars and destroy the club’s project. PSG must focus on building a team for a strong future around Mbappe.
Like the long-term project that Manchester City is doing with Josep “Pep” Guardiola. PSG must be able to find the right coach for their long-term project. Not only good tactically, but also able to control their dressing room which is filled with many top star players.
PSG must fully entrust the team to the coach, so that disputes like the one with Tuchel don’t happen again. PSG also has to have more faith in the process because European glory cannot be achieved instantly. PSG can learn from City’s success, even though they have failed in the final or semifinals of the Champions League, City still believes in Guardiola’s team and success will come when the time comes.
In truth, PSG have earned all the fame by bringing many stars to the club and it is time to focus on dreams. If they don’t talk as much in Europe, they won’t get the recognition The Citizen has.
PSG must learn that in the end, there is absolutely nothing memorable for the club or fans from all the mega star players they have brought in, including Messi. It feels useless if you bring in mega-star players but are not projected into long-term coaching.
ASL
