Since Qatar bought PSG in 2011, seven coaches have passed through the Parisian bench, most with more pain than glory, especially due to the team’s performance in the Champions League, the long-awaited title that the French champion is pursuing without success. Neither Ligue 1 nor any other national twist is enough. Only the ‘long-eared’ meets the expectations of the multimillion-dollar project supported by Qatari money, which has chosen Luis Enrique to address the umpteenth attempt to assault the European throne.
The Spaniard, a coach who, in addition to his undeniable football knowledge, stands out for his personality and leadership, will face the renewed project of a PSG that in the last two seasons has lived on the back of its spectacular trident: Kylian Mbappé, Leo Messi and Neymar. The powerful offensive line, with their respective record salaries, which have also placed a heavy burden on financial fair play, caused a clear imbalance in both defense and midfield, both plots with much less luster and quality. The bet went wrong, knocked out of the Champions League again in the round of 16 in the last two years. The new failure has led to a change in strategy that involves collecting fewer star cards and trying to create a more compact and competitive team. A model where Luis Enrique fits perfectly, who will now have to implement his idea in an unbalanced squad that needs changes. The rumors about transfers will not stop, as almost every summer around the gala entity.
Messi’s departure was already a declaration of intent. Neymar, more protagonist for his extra-sports life than for his sports performance since his arrival in 2017, after the payment of 222 million, would be the next to leave without having a contract until 2027 and a stratospheric record. And Mbappé, the only star that PSG intends to retain, has already decided that he will leave in the summer of 2024 and it is not ruled out that he will leave the team this summer, as was intuited in the coach’s presentation.
Luis Enrique will meet again with Neymar after their time at Barça between 2014 and 2017, the best period of the Brazilian’s career. The Asturian will have among his objectives to recover the best version of a Neymar constantly weighed down by injuries. Together with Mbappé, the striker will be the reference in attack next year, but he will be accompanied by players with less of a poster such as Kang In Lee, Marcus Thuram or Marco Asensio, all of them on PSG’s agenda this summer.
In turn, PSG could fill the void left by Messi with two world-class players such as Bernardo Silva, key to European champion Manchester City, and Harry Kane, who has one year left on his contract with Tottenham. Two operations that would be around 100 million euros each. The arrival of the Englishman would just confirm the departure of Hugo Ekitiké, a 20-year-old striker who arrived from the Stade de Reims last season.
The additions the previous summer of Vitinha, Carlos Soler, Fabián Ruiz and Renato Sanches did not raise the level or give consistency to the core. Despite the surplus of midfielders, Zaire-Emery, a young promise of only 17 years old, had to play important games, such as the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Bayern. In addition, Marco Verratti, a bulwark in midfield for years, has been discussed this past season and is considering a change of scenery. Luis Enrique will have to restructure the midfield, a key area to develop the possession game that his teams tend to develop. One of the players who could shore up the midfield line is the Uruguayan Manuel Ugarte, a midfielder who has stood out this past season at Sporting de Portugal, and in recent days the Spanish Gabri Veiga has also made a name for himself.
For their part, the sides are in principle the two positions where there are no doubts. Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, both with an offensive profile, have established themselves as two key players. Despite this, the arrival of Lucas Hernández, the most expensive signing in the history of Bayern Munich (80 million), has also sounded. In the central axis of the defense there will be news after the departure of Sergio Ramos. Marquinhos will continue to be the leader of the defense and the Slovakian Milan Skriniar, who will arrive free from Inter Milan, will a priori be his partner in defense. The youngsters Pembélé, Mukiele and Bitshiabu would be the alternatives for the wings and the central zone. Luis Enrique will also have to make a decision with the large number of loanees returning to the team, including Keylor Navas, Mauro Icardi, Pablo Sarabia, Georginio Wijnaldum, Julian Draxler and Julian Draxler.
Except for his time at Barça, where the trident formed by Messi, Neymar and Suárez weighed more, Luis Enrique has always been the undisputed leader of the dressing room, the soul of teams built in detail, author, that make the intensity and the choral force his idiosyncrasy, as seen in his last spell on the bench of the Spanish team. The Asturian will try to transfer that personality and competitiveness to Paris, perhaps the virtues that a disjointed PSG lacks to finally lift the first Champions League in its history.
