By overcoming Troyes on Sunday evening (3-1), PSG removed a thorn from their side after a very chaotic week. Unauthorized trip by Lionel Messi to Saudi Arabia, suspension of the Argentine striker, virulent protests from fans outside the club’s headquarters but also at Neymar’s home in Bougival: nothing has been spared at the capital club in recent days. If the title almost acquired in Ligue 1 (and it’s a lesser evil) will give a little respite to Christophe Galtier and his men, the coming summer will be placed under the sign of change.
Tired of the stars and unfulfilled promises in the Champions League, the Parisian leaders are planning for the umpteenth time to turn everything upside down. But this time around, the ones that go down might just be the mainstays of this decade-long rhinestone-and-glitter project. While Luis Campos considered having Lionel Messi extended for one more season, his adventure in the Gulf threw everything into question. There, we can estimate that Lionel Messi, freewheeling since his victory at the World Cup with Argentina, has had his day in the capital and that he can look elsewhere after two years of lackluster.
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But this questioning does not only concern the sevenfold Ballon d’Or: other big names in the Parisian workforce are in the crosshairs of supporters and certain observers. While he has not played for two months, Neymar has also been a favorite target of the sling. The Brazilian has alternated between excellence and disappointment since arriving in the capital six years ago. But when he’s at 100%, and we’re sorry that doesn’t happen more often, something always happens on the pitch with the former Barcelona player.
Intermittent of the show, Neymar manages to brighten up the Parisian game all the same. And when some rejoiced in his absence, believing that the Messi-Mbappé duo would perform better or that the young Vitinha would free himself, PSG ultimately continued to disappoint in the game. Under contract until 2027, Neymar is aware that it is no longer in the odor of sanctity on the side of Paris. His supposed complicity with Mbappé was a flash in the pan; in reality, the two men do not like each other. But with his colossal salary of 40.8 million euros per year and the absence of candidates to welcome him to date, he will probably still have to be counted on for a good while.
Finally, Marco Verratti has also drawn the wrath of the supporters. We cannot deny that with his lifestyle and his delicate performances since January, the Italian is not going through his best period at PSG. But he remains a special player, capable of flashes of genius and controlling the tempo of his team. More than Verratti, it is above all around him that the alarm bell must be sounded.
Since the famous Matuidi-Motta-Verratti trio, Paris Saint-Germain have never found such homogeneity in this precious sector. And the casting mistakes followed one another at an industrial pace: Stambouli, Krychowiak, Paredes, Wijnaldum or even Renato Sanches were all failures in their own way. Verratti has flaws but his leaders have not given him a gift in recent years.
