PSG’s strategy around the Ballon d’Or has undergone a serious change of direction. After a last season where the Parisian club clearly favored Ousmane Dembélé, notably to the detriment of Achraf Hakimi, Paris had this time decided to adopt a different approach. The idea, initially, was not to decide between its three main candidates: Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Fabian Ruiz. For several weeks, the three Parisians have been highlighted through different content and media operations, including interviews given to France Football And The Athletic. A strategy designed to give the three players the same chances and avoid repeating the scenario of the previous season.
But that line ultimately fell apart. According to The TeamPSG has decided in recent days to tighten its campaign around Dembélé and Kvaratskhelia, without really warning Fabian Ruiz, who would have discovered this new orientation… in the press. The Spaniard, although highlighted by the club at the beginning of the month, notably on TF1 and the PSG networks, would therefore not have been associated with this decision. According to the daily, this development occurred in particular in a context of internal tensions around how to respond to Kylian Mbappé’s various outings on the Ballon d’Or. Nasser al-Khelaïfi’s entourage would have pushed to concentrate the campaign on two players in order to avoid a dispersion of votes, while the media offensive of the former Parisian had not gone unnoticed by the leaders.
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Asked byTeam PSG, however, refused to say more about this change in strategy: “We do not intend to comment further on our strategy or our intentions. We have 10 players out of 30 nominated for the Ballon d’Or. (…) It is a source of great pride for Paris-Saint-Germain. These nominations illustrate the success of a collective and the work accomplished by the entire club. As we have already made known for several weeks, we consider that a Parisian deserves to win the Ballon d’Or. » A response which allows the club to officially maintain its collective discourse, without explaining why Fabian Ruiz no longer benefits from the same exposure as his two partners.
This new orientation is in any case not without internal consequences since the Spaniard’s clan is logically asking questions about this change of direction. It now remains to be seen how the former Neapolitan will react to this change of status, but PSG, which has had to manage this delicate communication exercise for two seasons now, must undoubtedly hope that this will not impact the athlete. Last season, it was without consequence, we just have to keep our fingers crossed for this season.
