Mercato – Will Paris Saint-Germain finally recruit in Ligue 1?

Mbappé, the only Ligue 1 debutant in seven years

Yet the French Championship has not been a favorite of the Paris club in recent history. As proof: PSG’s latest Ligue 1 signing is none other than Kylian Mbappé… signed in Summer 2017! Nothing since then. Or rather as a series of omissions of the most interesting prospects of the Ligue 1, all going abroad (Fabinho, F. Mendy, Koundé, Leao…). Sometimes even from the Parisian club itself (Nkunku, Diaby)!

Recently, the failures of Camavinga and Tchouaméni have confirmed another problem: even when PSG is interested in Ligue 1 talents, it encounters the desire of young people to go abroad, the financial atrocity of French clubs that logically want to take advantage of the power of Paris to push prices up and to fierce competition from rivals in Europe, who know that a PSG without the talents of the French Championship in its ranks is a weakened PSG.

Because they have understood it well and have been using it in the transfer market for years. All major European companies first use their national network to expand their workforce. Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or even Juventus (which remains a major player in Europe despite the last two complicated seasons) have a solid foundation in their team-like players who have been trained at the club or recruited into their respective championships. Paris must and wants to do the same.

Multiple but complicated tracks

While the transfer window has just officially opened, five Ligue 1 names have already been linked with an arrival at PSG: Hugo Ekitike (Reims), Seko Fofana (Lens), Sven Botman (Lille), Lucas Paqueta and Malo Gusto ( Lyons). Hiring locally is one of the clear priorities of new Portuguese sporting director Luis Campos, and it also appears to have been a determining factor in the negotiations leading to Kylian Mbappe’s new contract with the French champions. Additional proof of the alleged validity of this “made in France” recruitment.

With all that said, it remains to be seen who can really join the Parisian ranks. Paqueta will not come, he who was Leonardo’s priority above all else, and Ekikike appears to have an agreement with Newcastle for a transfer of 46 million euros. Fofana, Botman and Gusto are less of a dream, but are affordable to PSG and no less appealing on paper than some of the foreign names suggested in transfer rumours. The change of course at PSG will be through these types of recruits, and even if a Ligue 1 recruitment necessarily involves some of the casting mistakes, not trying is a clear guarantee of failure.