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Two summers ago, Paris St. Germain embarked on a signing and spending spree that has seen them go from mid table French Ligue Un side to the Champions League Quarter Finals, much further than their English equivalents Manchester City have managed so far. This was achieved on the back of some truly breathtaking spending which has combined the purchase of young talents from around the world and also some elite genuine world class players. Before the big money of Monaco and the changes in management at Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea which has seen them all dive back in to transfer market, PSG had two summers where they dominated proceedings, but with so much competition for a small group of players this year, can they persuade stars to join them?
In 2011, they crushed all competition for Javier Pastore by paying £32m. He had been linked to Juventus and the Milan sides but they couldn’t even vaguely compete with the Parisian spending power. There was even talk of Man United being blown out of the water. Pastore was the undoubted star of the summer 2011 crop which was mostly bought domestically. They hoovered up the likes of Blaise Matuidi and Kevin Gameiro from other Ligue Un sides before bringing back Jeremy Menez from Roma, at a similarly accelerated fee. There was legimate interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs in those three but they couldn’t keep up with what PSG could offer. Although not superstars, Pastore aside, they formed the basis of a solid team which finished runners up. PSG had achieved it by spending excessive money on good but not great players, the only way they could make sure of signing them in the first place, and it took them from fourth to second and a critical Champions League spot. Once in the elite competition, they took their spending to new levels.
2012 saw the arrivals of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan. PSG had, at a stroke, signed the best defender and one of the best forwards in the world. Not only that, but they had signed them from AC Milan, one of the biggest names in world football. The signings made them very legitimate, very quickly. They caught Barcelona and Real Madrid cold by getting Silva. Where 2011 had been about signing better players for too much money, now they were signing world class players from other huge clubs. First choice stars. Even Man City haven’t really done that on the same scale.
This sudden legitimacy and prestige allowed them to also sign Ezequiel Lavezzi, a man linked to Man City, and most impressively Lucas Moura, from under the noses of Manchester United. They got both of these deals done by blowing away the opposition with money. Paying nearly £40m for Lucas Moura and Man United couldn’t keep up. They then topped it off by getting David Beckham for a while to show that they had truly arrived as a big name brand. They have been able to take advantage of financial caution and stability elsewhere to run riot. No other major club had been under pressure to make impact moves. This summer though, has been very different.
PSG now face their equivalent in France in Monaco. Monaco have skipped the phase PSG went through in 2011 and gone straight for the world class stars. Falcao, James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho are elite performers. The signing of Falcao in particular was a landscape changer. Monaco are a serious financial force, one that PSG couldn’t have seen coming. Although they spent relatively heavily in Ligue 2, it was nothing like on the scale of their spending so far.
PSG missed out on Falcao, missed out on Neymar and aren’t really in the chatter for Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski or Edinson Cavani. These names are all being linked to the old money, the established big clubs. If this was last summer they might have been linked to PSG, but with all the big clubs in Europe looking to make statement signings not to get left behind, PSG are being squeezed out.
Falcao’s signing by Monaco stumped PSG
The only really big name they have consistently been linked to is Wayne Rooney but even then, they are not seen as front runner by any means. In fact, even Arsenal are preferred in the gossip columns to PSG. Instead, they are being mostly linked with the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Bacary Sagna. Good French players, but not world class stars. This would be more like their 2011 summer when they were signing players who could get them in to the Champions League.
PSG want to win the Champions League but the advantage their money gave them has run out. Their minimal prestige cannot compare to the lure of a Man United or Real Madrid. They are in a tough spot in terms of signing a world class player this year and so rather than waste money on non-upgrades, they should sit tight and wait for more stable times.
