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In 2011, Oryx Qatar Sports Investments became the new owners of French club Paris Saint-Germain and with their financial backing, the Parisian club became one of Europe’s strongest clubs.
Today, PSG hold the record for the two most expensive players ever and their expensively assembled squad is one of glamour and glitz. The Academy of PSG is also thriving under the new owners.
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PSG have signed some superstars over the years and it would be fair to say that a handful of their big money signings have gone wrong. However, there is so much quality in their side that few players had to leave the club over the years in search of regular playing time and a few others in search of a different challenge.
Since their take over, PSG have parted ways with enough top players to name an XI that is capable of competing with their current side.
Goalkeeper - Salvatore Sirigu (Torino)
Salvatore Sirigu was initially signed as backup goalkeeper in the first summer after the take over of PSG. However, he ended up playing all 38 league games in his debut season as PSG finished second in the league.
The Italian remained PSG’s first choice goalkeeper for the next three seasons, racking up 190 appearances and 84 clean sheets. He lost his place to Kevin Trapp ahead of the 2015/16 season but played in domestic cup competitions.
Sirigu spent the 2016/17 season on loan at Sevilla and later at Osasuna. He left the Parisian club in the 2017 summer to return to his homeland to play for Torino.
The 31-year-old won 13 trophies during his stint with PSG and played a key role in putting PSG on the footballing map.
Honourable mention - Mike Maignan (Lille)
Full-backs - Serge Aurier (Tottenham) and Lucas Digne (Everton)
The two full-backs in this XI currently play for Premier League clubs.
Serge Aurier initially joined PSG on loan in 2014/15 from Toulouse before making the move permanent a year later. He played 81 games for PSG in three seasons and won 11 trophies.
Aurier was suspended by PSG in February 2016 for calling his teammate Angel Di Maria a clown, using homophobic slurs at his manager Laurent Blanc and for suggesting favoritism towards Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a Q&A session with Periscope.
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In 2017, PSG sold Aurier to Spurs and replaced him with Dani Alves. Aurier has competed with Kieran Trippier at Spurs with the Englishman getting the nod more often than not.
Lucas Digne came through the Academy of Lille and played alongside fellow academy product Eden Hazard. His impressive performances as a teenager earned him a move to PSG in the summer of 2013 but he ended up playing second fiddle to the veteran Maxwell.
The Frenchman went on loan to Roma in 2015/16 before joining Barcelona permanently the following season. At Barcelona, Digne was once again used as a backup player and after two seasons, he left Spain to join Everton in the summer.
Digne, 25, faces competition from Leighton Baines at his new club but he has the necessary quality to force his way into the starting XI.
Honourable mentions - Youssouf Sabaly (Bordeaux), Christophe Jallet (Nice), Gregory van der Wiel (Toronto FC) and Yuri Berchiche (Athletic Bilbao)
Centre-backs - David Luiz (Chelsea) and Mamadou Sakho (Crystal Palace)
PSG signed David Luiz in the summer of 2014 from Chelsea for £50m which was a record fee for a defender at that time.
Luiz played 89 games for PSG in two seasons, scored 8 goals and won seven trophies before returning to Chelsea on transfer deadline day in the summer of 2016.
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The Brazilian was named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year in his two seasons at the club and in 2016/17, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year after an impressive season which helped Chelsea win the league title.
Mamadou Sakho was a first-team player at PSG long before the arrival of the new owners. Sakho is a product of the PSG academy and made his first-team debut in September 2007. Aged 17 years and 8 months, Sakho became the youngest ever captain in PSG history, a record he still holds.
After the takeover, Sakho remained the club’s captain but in the second half of the 2011/12 season, he lost his place in the side due to poor form and the arrival of Thiago Silva in the 2012 summer, Sakho's game time reduced even more.
Sakho moved to Liverpool in the summer of 2013 when Brendan Rodgers was the manager but fell out with Jurgen Klopp and was eventually sold to Crystal Palace for whom he still plays.
Midfielders - Blaise Matuidi (Juventus) and Javier Pastore (Roma)
Blaise Matuidi was signed as a replacement for Claude Makelele in 2011 for a mere €7.5m plus future incentives. The Frenchman rose to fame during his stint with PSG and played 295 games for the club in six seasons scoring 33 times.
Matuidi was a crucial member of the PSG team that won 16 trophies while he was there. In 2017, he left PSG to join Juventus and won the domestic double in his first season in Italy.
The 31-year-old was also a key member of the France team that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Javier Pastore was also one of the many players who signed for PSG in the summer of 2011 after the takeover. He joined PSG from Italian club Palermo for approximately €4.7 million.
The Argentine played 265 games for PSG in seven seasons, scoring 45 goals and assisting a further 59. However, over the years, he found his playing time reduce because of the increase in competition for places. In fact, his best season at PSG was his debut season during which he scored 16 goals and assisted 8.
The 29-year-old left PSG to in the summer to return to Italy with AS Roma after winning 16 trophies in France.
Honourable mentions - Grzegorz Krychowiak (Lokomotiv Moscow), Hatem Ben Arfa (Free agent) and Benjamin Stambouli (Schalke)
Wingers - Lucas Moura (Tottenham) and Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich)
During the summer of 2012, Manchester United and Inter Milan were keen on signing Lucas Moura from São Paulo but PSG swooped in and wrapped up a deal to bring the player to the club for £38 million.
Moura only joined PSG in January 2013 after the Brazilian league season ended and at the time of his arrival, he was the club’s record signing.
Despite the initial promise he showed, he was unable to nail down a regular starting spot throughout his PSG career as he had to compete with a plethora of world-class players.
Moura played 230 games for PSG in five years, scored 46 goals and won 16 trophies before joining Spurs in January 2018.
Kingsley Coman is one the most notable players to come through the PSG academy in recent years. However, he didn’t get enough first-team opportunities at the club and left the club after playing just four games. Nevertheless, he was eligible to win a Ligue 1 winners medal in his two seasons with the PSG first team.
Coman left PSG to join Juventus and in his only season with the Italian club, he won the Serie A, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana.
The French winger joined Bayern Munich on loan in 2015 and his move was made permanent after two seasons. Coman has so far played 96 games for the Bavarian club and scored 16 goals.
Incredibly, the 22-year-old has won the league title in every season as a professional with one of PSG, Juventus or Bayern Munich.
Strikers - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy) and Ezequiel Lavezzi (Hebei China Fortune)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a historic signing for PSG. He arrived from AC Milan in 2012 and in four seasons at the club, he scored 156 goals in 180 games.
The Swede’s fame was a decisive factor in getting PSG the attention they craved for and he didn’t disappoint. When he left the club in 2016, he was the club’s all-time leading goalscorer but Edinson Cavani broke the record recently.
Ibrahimovic won 12 trophies as a PSG player before leaving on a free transfer to Manchester United.
The summer of 2012 was a big one in PSG history as they notably signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Thiago Silva and Marco Verratti.
Lavezzi appeared in 161 games for PSG in three and a half seasons and found the back of the net 35 times. He won nine trophies as a PSG player before he left in January 2016.
The Argentine left PSG to join Chinese Super League Club Hebei China Fortune. He has scored 22 goals in 39 games in China despite not scoring in his first 10 games with the club.
Honourable mentions - Jean-Kévin Augustin (RB Leipzig) and Kevin Gameiro (Valencia)
You can also find similar XIs of players sold by Chelsea, Liverpool, Sevilla, Southampton, Roma and Dinamo Zagreb.
