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| Rising Power? |
What do London, Paris, Rome and Berlin all have in common? One of football fan's favorite pieces of trivia was ruined last May when Didier Drogba stroked the ball past Manuel Neuer to give Chelsea victory in the 2012 Champions League. Prior to Chelsea's most unexpected of triumphs, none of these four capital cities had seen the European Cup won by one of their own. Arsenal were 12 minutes away in 2006, Bruce Grobbelaar's wobbly legs deprived Roma of their chance at glory in their own stadium in 1984.
With London crossed of this list of famous cities never to taste European glory the question is which city will be next to go? Everything points to Paris and one of Europe's most famous clubs. In the 16th arrondissement of Paris a giant is stirring.
Although a famous name and one of European football's most recognisable teams, PSG, which was established in 1970 as the result of a merger between Stade Saint-Germain and Paris FC, have not enjoyed the success that one would associate with a name of such calibre. Their golden period coincided with their last major take over. In May 1991 television giants Canal + purchased the club and with the help of significant investment, PSG enjoyed a period of unprecedented success. Between 1992 and 1998 the club contested two UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals, winning one, as well as reaching the semifinals of the Champions League. Domestically the club won its second league title, three French cups and two League cups.
However since those heady days in the mid to late 1990s the club has struggled to come close to emulating those glory years. The occasional cup success simply masked the fact that PSG were falling behind to southern powers Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux as well as Lille; all of whom have tasted Ligue 1 championships in recent memory.
However in the summer of 2011 the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) purchased the club and the club's new president Nasser Al-Khelaifi announced that he intended to invest a hundred million euros in the transfer market. He backed up these words by writing a cheque for £37.5m to acquire Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore from Palermo. The money has not dried up either, established names such as Maxwell, Alex and Thiago Motta have all arrived in Paris. Head coach Antoine Kombouare, a former player and much liked by the fans but not in keeping with the image QIA are attempting to cultivate, has been replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, a man who has won the European Cup four times as a player and coach.
Despite this influx of global talent, PSG were pipped to the title by Montpellier last season but the club will return to the Champions League for the first time since 2004 and this has enabled them to embark on their latest round of spending which threatens to truly shake up the hierarchy of European football.
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| Silva Service |
Last week, AC Milan accepted a bid of over £50m for Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Silva, the Brazilian national team captain and one of the best centre backs in Europe, has already completed his move whilst Ibrahimovic, Serie A's top scorer last season with 28 goals, is expected to conclude his transfer this week. This follows on from the signing of Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli for £24m. Does this latest round of petrodollar funded shopping indicate that PSG are here to stay? Or does it indicate little more than another exciting but unpredictable chapter in the clubs recent history?
Firstly let no one fool you, whilst PSG are certainly an established name and will compete in the Champions League next season, finance has played a major part in this. Milan are not the economic power they used to be and the struggles of Italy's economy only exacerbates this. An offer of such magnitude was always likely to be well received for in recent years, as power has slowly moved away from Italy to Spain and England so have Milan's biggest names. Andrei Shevchenko was sold to Chelsea in 2006 for £30m and Kaka departed for Real Madrid in 2009 for £56m. Even Milan know when to sell and the offer for Ibrahimovic in particular who is now 30 is an excellent one.
Equally the move will handsomely reward Silva and Ibrahimovic who are expected to be paid yearly net salaries of €9m and €13m respectively. When the 75% tax rate proposed by Francois Hollande is taken into account, one gains a true idea of the type of money we are talking about.
This takeover and spending spree is unprecedented in French football but comparisons can be drawn from further a field and it is interesting to compare the strategies instigated by those clubs who have been taken over by billionaire benefactors.
Chelsea, the first club club to benefit from what many dub "financial doping" brought in players both familiar with the Premier League and those who had never played in England. The one consistent factor in their policy was that all the players whom they acquired were relatively young and had their best years ahead of them, with a few notable exceptions. This, by and large, is the same policy employed at Manchester City by Roberto Mancini who has been equally disposed to by from home and abroad with again the salient factor being that the vast majority of his players are yet to peak.
Mark Hughes, Mancini's predecessor at City employed a slightly different method. Practically all his major signings were players who had plenty of experience of English football with his logic being that they would not need any adaption period and would be able to instantly secure the top four finish the owners demanded. Ultimately this did not work out however it should be noted that some of Hughes' signings have become key players for City such as Gareth Barry, Pablo Zabaleta and Nigel De Jong.
It seems probable that PSG will dominate domestic football for the next few seasons, Lille and Montpellier; champions in the two previous seasons have lost key players and will continue to. Anything other than a comprehensive league title next season will be seen as a tremendous failure for the club and would probably cost Ancelotti his job. However as to whether this summer marks the start of a dynasty for Paris Saint Germain is a question that cannot be answered for a number of years.
Everyone felt that Chelsea, with their unmatched financial power, would dominate English football when they retained the title in 2005/06 yet they have only won one league since. Real Madrid's first galactico era did not usher in domestic or European domination, indeed it has now been a decade since Madrid lifted the European Cup despite expenditures approaching €500b. Big names do not always equate to sustained success and with Financial Fair Play around the corner, PSG will not be able to spend such huge sums each year to rejuvenate a squad that for all the relative youth of Thiago Silva and Lavezzi still numbers players such as Alex, Maxwell, Thiago Motta, Mohammad Sissoko and Ibrahimovic as its key personnel; none of whom are the right side of 30.
Whether PSG can make a tangible impact upon the Champions League this season will rely on their new players quickly adjusting to their new surroundings but more importantly on a favorable draw in the group stages. Manchester City could attest to this as they, like PSG, were 4th seeds and found themselves in a formidable group and before they had time to adjust to Europe were quickly knocked out. Below is the potential nightmare group for PSG.
Barcelona (Pot 1)
Manchester City (Pot 2)
Juventus (Pot 3)
PSG (Pot 4)
Whilst such a group would be mouth watering for the neutrals it would be a disaster for those involved.
Ultimately next season is a critical one for PSG and the QIA. Anything other than 1st place in the league will be seen as total embarrassment whilst a strong showing in Europe would help to expand the clubs brand as well as increasing the clubs revenue which, given the weak television income of the French league, is essential when attempting to compete against the Premier League and La Liga's big two.
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