While the level of offensive recruits from Paris Saint-Germain raises questions, Kylian Mbappé’s decision to stay or not will be the indicator of the success of the Parisian transfer window.
Paris Saint-Germain displayed a glaring lack of efficiency on Wednesday in Dortmund (1-1), which could have cost them dearly. This is damaging for the capital club, which nevertheless spent more than 250 million euros this summer to surround Kylian Mbappé, by recruiting Gonçalo Ramos, Ousmane Dembélé, Randal Kolo Muani and Bradley Barcola.
Between them, these players have only scored 10 goals in all competitions. And if we take the ranking of the most decisive players for PSG, behind the inevitable Mbappé (15 goals and 2 assists this season), it is a defender who comes in second position. This is Achraf Hakimi, who has 3 goals and 4 assists, while Dembélé has 1 goal and 6 assists.
“Third zone” players around Mbappé
Luis Enrique has not yet found the right formula in attack, and continues to search: he alternates between schemes with three or four attacking players, has not yet defined an obvious hierarchy between Ramos and Kolo Muani, and he even uses Mbappé in a more axial position lately. Does the Spanish coach have what it takes to achieve the goals set by PSG? Was Parisian recruitment good enough to compensate for the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar? The answer will come… from Kylian Mbappé.
“If the question is whether these players will lead PSG to win the Champions League if Mbappé leaves? I tell you no, answers Jérôme Leroy in L’Equipe. The problem is that in a club like Paris, you can’t be good by accident one game out of ten. The pressure and expectations are enormous. You can be good in other clubs and not be good at PSG or OM. The replacements for Neymar and Messi are second or third zone players compared to them. »
And Mbappé then? It is “the barometer” according to Jérôme Leroy. “ If he decides to stay it’s because he thinks he can win the C1 with this team, if he leaves it’s because he doesn’t believe in it.“
