Soon the transfer window, from the passage in 2021. According to our information, the PSG will try everything to strengthen itself on the transfer market. Parisian coach Thomas Tuchel, on the other hand, still dreams of a new central defender, after the unreplaced departure of Thiago Silva last summer. Obviously, Lionel Messi will not come this winter to PSG. Because of the pandemic, its economic consequences, the withdrawal of Mediapro, the capital club is expecting a vertiginous deficit at the end of the season, greater than that recorded on June 30 and which was around 100 million euros. The room for maneuver is not colossal for Leonardo. But the sports director proved in October (the summer transfer window had been postponed) his ingenuity by recruiting smart and cheap. The two best reinforcements did not strain the club’s budget with the free arrival of Rafinha and the free loan of Moise Kean.
The manager remains on the lookout for the opportunities that the market will offer. This does not mean that new players will join the workforce in January but Paris is not closing any doors. All positions, except that of guardian, are concerned. “If we can recruit, we will think about what is possible or not,” advanced Thomas Tuchel cautiously, Sunday evening in Lille, after another massacre. The three wounded from the North (Kimpembe, Florenzi, Kurzawa) are added to the seven others already in the infirmary. And PSG-Strasbourg has not yet taken place.
This is what worries PSG this season, made so special by the sanitary conditions: the flow of endless physical problems. The fear of arriving helpless against Barcelona on February 16, in the knockout stages of the Champions League, still populates the minds of decision-makers. Before his trip to Catalonia, Paris will have to play nine games in less than 40 days, not to mention the schedule for the Coupe de France which is not yet known. An extremely sustained pace during the coldest and most dangerous climatic period.
The fixed idea of the coach
Barring a huge underperformance this Wednesday against Strasbourg, Thomas Tuchel will continue in 2021 to train PSG. A defeat would bring his hierarchy to rule, between the different currents of influence in Paris as in Doha, where we decide in fine. In the meantime, Thomas Tuchel is working on the contours of his team, hoping to recover his injuries as quickly as possible. Almost entirely, its workforce remains very competitive.
But the German does not budge: he lacks a central defender. Adept at the three-way defense, he seeks the right complement from Marquinhos and Kimpembe even if he prefers to see the Brazilian in midfield. With Thilo Kehrer and Abdou Diallo, he does not consider himself armed enough for the big matches.
A few months after the end of the last transfer window, the coach has not changed his mind and still wants to recruit his compatriot Antonio Rüdiger, the Chelsea defender, helmed by Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma. At 27, he has played only one league meeting, starting November 21 against Newcastle. In the Champions League, he started three games before playing 22 minutes against Rennes in London. It clearly does not fit into the plans of Frank Lampard who is playing the title in England and refuses to cut corners on his alternatives. The file seems just as complicated as it was a few weeks ago.
Draxler and Gueye will not be selected
If Paris does not have enough liquidity, it is also because it does not sell much. This summer, players at the end of their contract left (Cavani, Meunier, Thiago Silva) and the transfer of Loïc Mbe Soh only brought in a small sum. Six months from the end of his contract, Julian Draxler is still for sale. This is the last window to hope to recover some money before his free start next summer. Four years after his arrival for 36 million euros, the German, often injured, has never convinced.
Another candidate at the start (according to the club’s wishes): Gana Gueye. The Senegalese lost for several months the starting status he seemed to have won during his first season in Paris. Its performance questions even if Tuchel appreciates it enormously. His solid performance in Lille (0-0) proves that the middle clings, decided to win in this team of stars where he must run for the others.
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But the player retains a good odds abroad, especially in England where he comes from (Everton). Leandro Paredes, another identified market value, could also receive offers even though he has the dressing room with him. His proximity to Neymar is an additional strength while he enjoys Paris.
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