How did PSG end up with so many unwanted players?

PSG has been the best club in France in the last decade, winning all but four of the last fourteen league titles.

It is a remarkable run that most people probably do not give them enough credit for, perhaps because they spend so much money.

French football is not one of the most commercially successful, so PSG has had to rely on outside finances to fund its way to the top.

In the 2000s, Lyon was the dominant force and money also had a role to play in it as they had a wealthy owner who splashed the cash on signing the best players.

When PSG’s Qatari owners arrived, they vowed to rival and even better that success and have done so in a decade.

One of the things that makes the Paris Club stand out among French clubs is the signings that they make.

Because Ligue 1 is not exactly a financially successful championship, and the departure of Kylian Mbappe has made things even worse for them, PSG’s success has been criticised.

French rivals think they are allowed to do whatever they like, while other teams in Europe wonder how they can afford these players.

PSG tickets sell well because their fans are guaranteed superb signings and world-class players being lured to Paris.

Luis Enrique has been tasked with rebuilding the team now that several clubs fancy their chances of catching them following the departure of Kylian Mbappe.

However, the Spaniard is dealing with a situation that any manager should love.

PSG has too many top players who are not getting game time, and they could offload them in January or next summer.

The likes of Milan Skriniar, Kolo Randal Muani and Presnel Kimpembe are now surplus to requirements at the club and can leave. How did PSG find itself in this situation?

Years of reckless spending

Despite playing in the far less fancied Ligue 1 which does not command the financial success of rival top flight competitions, PSG has spent so much on quality players.

They signed Neymar from Barcelona for a world record fee in 2017 and he remains the most expensive footballer in the world till this day.

PSG signed Neymar because they wanted to win the Champions, adding him to Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani.

They would eventually sign Lionel Messi from Barcelona when he left his boyhood club as a free agent.

PSG never paid a transfer fee to sign Messi, but he commanded a huge wage which just reflected their habit of recklessly spending money.

There are so many players whom they have bought who did well, one of whom is obviously Kylian Mbappe.

However, the current situation of having too many unwanted players is also a result of their insatiable want for the best talents.

In the summer, PSG was one of the clubs that released, sold and loaned out the most players among the top teams on the continent.

Danilo Pereira, Carlos Soler, Manuel Ugarte, Juan Bernat,  Renato Sanches, Xavi Simons, among others, all left PSG in the summer.

Some of the moves were permanent deals, while others were loan moves, but it shows how much PSG has spent on unwanted players over the years.

The Parisians still have many players whom Enrique does not want, and they have to offload more in January.

A manager that changes his mind often

Some of the players who cannot get game time at the club now were prominent members of the team when Enrique first arrived as the manager.

The Spaniard used them to win the league and reach the semi-final of the Champions League last season.

However, this term, he no longer fancies the likes of Skriniar and Randal Kolo Muani, making them surplus to requirements.

It is a situation of same manager, different preferences, so the club faces having to make changes to the squad in almost every transfer window.

Managers take their time before agreeing to sign players, however, sometimes they change their minds and this leaves the player in limbo about their place on the team.

Enrique’s continuous success at the helm means the club would support his decisions, even when he changes his mind on players he previously wanted to work with.

In the future, more players will be in the same situation, so this will not be the last time that PSG will have so many unwanted players.

Who are the most valuable unwanted flops in the current PSG squad

PSG has declared so many players surplus to requirements, but who are the most valuable among them?

Presnel Kimpembe

Kimpembe has been at the club since the start of his professional career and should be its captain now.

However, long-term injuries over the last few seasons have limited his game time, and he is now on the cusp of leaving the club.

At 29, he can still do well at a top club and could fetch them a good transfer fee when he leaves.

Randal Kolo Muani

Considering how good he was at Eintracht Frankfurt, forcing PSG to pay big money to sign him, Muani was supposed to be one of the players to solve the post-Kylian Mbappe goals problem at PSG.

However, he has flattered to deceive and it is hard to fault the club for wanting to offload him at the end of this year.

Milan Škriniar

Skriniar was worshipped at Inter Milan, and the Italians refused to accept a transfer fee to sell him, so he moved to PSG as a free agent last season.

That move has not turned out to be a good one, but the defender remains valuable and has been linked with a move to Juventus.

Xavi Simons

Simons explains better how PSG sign players even when they do not have plans to use them in their squad.

The Dutchman was in fantastic form at RB Leipzig last season, yet PSG sent him back on loan there this term as their current manager does not consider him a key part of his plans.

If that remains the case in the summer, the club should sell him and dissolve this relationship for good.

Gabriel Moscardo

Moscardo moved to Paris as one of the most sought after Brazilian teenagers when PSG won the race for his signature.

He had been promised game time, but when he arrived in Paris, things were different and he is spending this season on loan at Reims where the 19-year-old struggles to play.

Carlos Soler

Soler is spending this season on loan at West Ham and would be eager to do well and escape his lack of game time at PSG.

The Spaniard remains a fine midfielder and he is doing well on loan at the Premier League club, but time will tell where his future lies.

Conclusion

PSG has been one of the best clubs in the world for several years, but they have to fix their broken recruitment structure sooner rather than later.