There were Javier Pastore and Ezequiel Lavezzi. Then Zlatan Ibrahimović and Edinson Cavani. In the end, it all culminated with Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, and Lionel Messi. And although Paris Saint-Germain ‘monopolized’ France, the Saints still lack the trophy that the Qataris have been dreaming of since their arrival at the Parc des Princes in 2011. The Champions League trophy, of course. However, the club’s chairman, Nasser al-Khelaifi, after an unsuccessful attempt to keep Mbappé, seems to have come to terms with the fact that it won’t happen even this season. He assures that there is nothing fatal about it because PSG has turned a new leaf after the end of the project of the Parisian version of ‘Galacticos’.Enrique’s mission impossible: life after Mbappe?Instead, PSG will focus on young footballers in the future, and their growth requires time. In the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, PSG comfortably won 2-0 in a match where the team fielded had an average age of 23 years and 361 days. True, Mbappé scored both goals, and he will leave in June, but there are other guys too. For instance, there is now talk that 21-year-old Bradley Barcola – brought in from Lyon last June in a 45 million euros transfer – could debut for France in March as Kingsley Coman is sidelined. He struggled a bit at the beginning of the season, but has come into his own. Now he has three goals and several assists to his name. There are speculations that Barcola is projected to replace Mbappé when he, presumably, moves to Real. Everyone knows he isn’t Mbappé, but Al-Khelaifi assures that the Qataris have learned patience. Ahead of the match against Real Sociedad, he even went down to the locker room himself to tell the young players that there is no pressure on them. Especially because…Parisians struggle on”The Champions League is a long story. We said at the beginning of the season that we wanted to build a team for the future, a team that could play together for six to eight years. We have the youngest team in the quarterfinals, the youngest in the top 10 in Europe. We are proud of that. That’s our strategy. Young players and young French players” said Al-Khelaifi in an interview with Radio Monte Carlo.PSG see Yamal as Mbappes’ successor, Barca won’t sellThe question is whether the club owners can wait. Because so far, we’ve seen them as people who want everything, now and immediately. If it weren’t so, they wouldn’t have spent 220,000,000 euros on Neymar and 180,000,000 on Mbappé. However, Al-Khelaifi assures that they have a plan now. Although they still want to win.”Of course! Players want to win every game, but we have to be realistic. We are in the process of building the team. Most of the players are newcomers. In the last game, only two or three were with us last season. It’s not easy. We’ve just put them together; the players aren’t ready yet” he said. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7939292##PSG president was also full of praise for a first-year coach Luis Enrique.”I’m proud of him. He’s doing a fantastic job in selecting this team. It’s not just about the results but also the style of our play, the strategy, the vision. I’m proud of the sporting director, Luis Campos, who is doing an amazing job. I’m proud of all the players. We’re very happy” concluded Al-Khelaifi.
