Last summer, the capital club may have achieved the most flashy transfer window in its history. But, for the moment, this recruitment campaign rhymes above all with failure.
For the moment, Paris Saint-Germain are failing to lift the Champions League, but they know the recipe to be the champion of the transfer window. In 2017, the capital club spent no less than € 400 million to recruit the Neymar-Mbappé doublet. Four years later, the Rouge-et-Bleu haven’t invested as much money, but the 2021 summer recruiting left the entire football world speechless.
The Parisians have indeed succeeded in recruiting Achraf Hakimi, Georginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi! The Inter side cost € 60m and the other four stars arrived free of any contract. Clearly, Paris has attracted the most coveted players without a contract. And all this without forgetting the arrival of the young Portuguese talent Nuno Mendes.
Obviously, by recruiting these five stars, the expectations were high. Especially for Messi. Seeing La Pulga in Ligue 1 seemed to be the realm of science fiction. But at a time when mid-season has struck, the results of this summer transfer window are not very glorious. Not much to fault Donnarumma. The Italian has to deal with Keylor Navas, a coach refusing to establish a clear hierarchy and he has made no big mistake.
Stars not at the rendezvous
For his part, Hakimi made a big start to the season (3 goals, 2 assists) and developed a special technical relationship with Kylian Mbappé. Paris seemed to have finally settled its side problem. But for several weeks, the Moroccan shines much less. Pochettino does not use it as a piston, but as a classic lateral. Result: his defensive shortcomings are visible. Finally, he also spends a lot of time making calls without being served.
Regarding Wijnaldum, many expected the contribution of his experience at Liverpool. For the moment, the Batavian seems lost and apart from his double scored against Leipzig on November 3, no major fact to report. Worse, his Parisian adventure could even end prematurely since he is announced to return to England where Arsenal would give him soft eyes.
Let’s move on to Sergio Ramos. Its record is catastrophic, but it will be very fast. Arrived in July, only three games played, 175 minutes on the clock and already a red card. The Spaniard could not do worse in the second half of the season. Finally, the Messi case is also talking a lot. If some have long mentioned a poorly chosen positioning by Pochettino (right winger), it is clear that La Pulga is not on his plate.
Undoubtedly marked by his unexpected departure from Barcelona, after twenty years spent in Catalonia, the Argentinian does not have the expected success. Author of 1 goal and 4 assists in 11 Ligue 1 matches, he has 5 achievements in the Champions League. A more flattering record on the European scene, but it weighs too little on the Parisian game. Result: this summer transfer window has undoubtedly more delighted the communication and marketing teams of PSG than the technical staff and supporters.
