5 players who are lucky to be at Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain are a side with ambitions of winning the Champions League. Over the course of the summer, they have boosted their squad to ensure it is of the highest standard, splashing out nearly €400 million on strikers Neymar and Kylian Mbappe alone.

As such, their squad is of the highest standard and boasts world-class players in many positions.

However, Unai Emery’s team is not the finished product yet, and even if they win the European Cup there will be areas in which they try to improve themselves – both in terms of first-team starters and on the bench.

In some areas, such as in attack, PSG are overstocked and have a surplus of talent, leading to quality forwards unable to get a look in. In others, they could do with strengthening.

Here are the players who must consider themselves fortunate to still be at the club for one reason or another.

---

#5 Javier Pastore

Javier Pastore during a Paris Saint-Germain Training Session

The 28-year-old Argentina international was one of the players who really got the PSG revolution going. He was the first star to sign for the club way back in 2011, showing the intent of the Parc des Princes side as they captured the Palermo star from under the noses of some of Europe’s finest teams.

Pastore’s influence was initially profound and provided him with a fan-favourite status that is maintained to this day. In his first season in France, he scored an impressive 13 goals in 33 league outings and was very much the fulcrum of an improving side. As PSG have developed, though, Pastore has failed to keep pace.

When he found the net against Amiens on the opening day of the season, that marked his 13th league goal since the end of his first campaign in Ligue 1. It took him more than five years and 130 appearances to get it. Last season, he did not find the net at all.

Injury problems have frustrated the playmaker, yet his slight frame and languid style do not make him especially suited to the top level of the game, no matter the incredible technical and mental talent that he has.

Admittedly, Pastore has enjoyed something of a renaissance this season, with four goals in 13 outings, but his persistent calf problems continue to trouble him.

With reports that PSG need to sell to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, he could well be one man to go.

#4 Hatem Ben Arfa

The great left foot that never made it

It has been close to a year since Hatem Ben Arfa last played for PSG, though the 30-year-old continues to enjoy the trappings associated with being at one of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Known as a sprightly yet tempestuous attacker, it was only two years ago he was enjoying a staggering renaissance with Nice. At the Allianz Riviera, he looked back to his best, dribbling by defenders as if they weren’t there and showing the kind of blistering individual talent that has seen him touted as a star while a youngster at Lyon.

The rebirth was short lived. Snubbed for France’s Euro 2016 squad, he took the plunge in signing for PSG but never seemed to be at the forefront of Unai Emery’s plans and has not scored a single league goal for them.

Now he is content to while away his time training with the first team. Indeed, it seemed that he might spend the season with the reserves, though after his agent threatened legal action against the club, head coach Emery quickly backed down.

Emery, though, has not selected France’s Young Player of the Year in 2008 for any of his squads this season, with the former Newcastle man not even making the bench.

It is a situation that does not seem to perturb Ben Arfa, who is out of contract at the end of the season and appears content to worry about his future in June.

No doubt there is formidable talent in his boots, but it is being completely squandered in the French capital.

#3 Lucas Moura

Lucas Moura has fallen down the pecking order at PSG

Much was expected of Lucas Moura when PSG beat Manchester United to seal his signature from Sao Paulo in January of 2012 for €45 million.

The Brazil international attacker arrived in Paris touted as one of the next big things in the modern game, yet he never really lived up to that billing and finds himself on the periphery of the squad, a victim of the arrival of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Indeed, at the halfway stage of the Ligue 1 season, Lucas has managed a mere 76 league minutes spread over five matches. That he has managed to find the net is a commendable achievement.

Nevertheless, there is a sense that the 2013 Confederations Cup champion is not nearly as good as either his compatriot or the young Frenchman. He managed to score 12 goals in 37 league outings last season, which is a commendable tally, yet his numbers are pushed into the shadows by those of the new arrivals.

As such, it seems inevitable that he will be shipped out over the coming month. PSG are said to have put a hefty price tag of €40 million upon his head and the player is eager to move to the Premier League.

He remains a very useful player but is not as spectacular as his reputation might suggest. Moments of brilliance are too few and far between.

#2 Kevin Trapp

Kevin Trapp has been playing second fiddle to Areola

Goalkeeper has been a problem position for some time now at PSG – and to some extent, it continues to be, with Alphonse Areola not entirely convincing having been handed the gloves in the summer.

The man he claimed them from, however, deserved to find himself on the bench after a difficult couple of years in Paris.

Certainly, there has been an improvement from the shot-stopper who arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt to replace the solid but unspectacular Salvatore Sirigu, though he looked every inch a player signed from the bargain basement. It is rare for PSG to move for a player for as little as €10 million, yet that was exactly how much Trapp cost them in 2015.

His early career in Paris was riddled by mistakes. After four successive cleansheets to begin with, his confidence was rocked by a 2-2 home draw against Bordeaux, in which he conceded twice cheaply, with the late equaliser a moment he must still be having nightmares over.

During that first season, he was PSG’s undisputed No.1 without ever being properly challenged. When Areola returned to provide competition, he soon lost his place, and though he played again briefly at the end of last term, he remains very much second choice this season.

It is inevitable that PSG will need to strengthen this area at some point and Trapp is the likely victim.

#1 Layvin Kurzawa

Kurzawa is punching above his weight at PSG

He may be a very fine player, but is Layvin Kurzawa a left-back who can help Paris Saint-Germain to win the Champions League? It seems doubtful.

For all the attacking flair of the 25-year-old France international – he scored a hat-trick in a Champions League match against Anderlecht earlier this season – there are serious doubts over his defensive abilities, which have not really been tested yet this season.

Going forward, there is arguably no better full-back in France, but he can become carried away with the prospect of making a decisive contribution at the other end of the field and has a tendency to forget his primary role – to keep goals out.

Indeed, questions must also be asked of the robustness of the former Monaco full-back. After all, this is a player who has never managed to play more than 28 league games in a season. Given that he made his debut way back in 2011, it is remarkable that seven years later, he has still only played 116 league matches.

With an on-field attitude that has also been poor at times – he is remembered infamously for his salute to the Sweden Under-21 team after scoring an apparently decisive penalty in October 2014 only for their opponents to eliminate France by striking seconds later – he is not someone who can consider his place in the squad assured.