Prioritizing PSG’s Positional Needs for This Summer
With so many changes needed in the French capital, where should PSG start?
Paris Saint-Germain’s horrific start to 2023 continued with a 1-0 loss at home to Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1 on Sunday which could yet reopen the Championnat title race. With tough games away at OGC Nice and RC Lens coming up, Christophe Galtier’s men allowed their lead at the French topflight summit to be cut to six points. Despite the narrow loss to OL, though, Les Parisiens should be looking to use the remainder of this season constructively to identify positions needing a rebuild.
Regardless of whether or not Galtier is in charge come next season or sporting advisor Luis Campos’role beyond this campaign, a plan of action is becoming clearer by the game. Performances in certain key areas have not been acceptable of late and Lyon was once again further evidence of some of the required changes. Not even a better atmosphere than of late at Parc des Princes could break PSG out of its negative spiral on Sunday, which suggests that the current issues are terminal—at least under Galtier.
We look at the main areas in order of how pressing the urgency is to sort them out ahead of a summer of anticipated major change in Paris.
Defense
Whether it is Galtier or somebody new, the back line must be the absolute priority over this summer with clean sheets impossible when the defense is as porous as PSG’s has been. Without a shutout in five games, it is little wonder that the French capital outfit have suffered three defeats in that time. This current run of losses in 2023 is nearly into double digits and already historically worse than any calendar year since 2001. Captain Marquinhos will remain with a contract extension close, Presnel Kimpembe will hope to be back before the end of the year while Milan Škriniar is set to arrive from Inter Milan. Building around those three makes sense even though the France international is not sure to be recovered until the 2023-24 campaign is underway. Either versatile defensive options or disciplined full-backs capable of rotating with the likes of Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi is also a possibility if a two-man central defensive unit turns out to be the way forward.
Midfield
However, the most concerning position on the field is arguably the middle of the park given how long it has taken for PSG to truly address their positional issues here. Not since the days of the Marco Verratti-Thiago Motta-Blaise Matuidi trio has there really been a truly convincing solution and the French giants have continued to rely heavily upon Verratti despite his struggles for form and fitness—mostly the latter. Campos tried to address this overreliance upon Verratti last summer but his moves backfired with the likes of Vitinha, Renato Sanches and Carlos Soler unconvincing at best and leaving a lot to be desired while Danilo Pereira could be an effective midfield enforcer but has to play in defense to compensate for the lack of depth there. Too much mediocrity has been tolerated in this area for too long, and PSG need to focus on adding quality and versatility to what they already have before thinking about depth. At some point in the future, that might even include contemplating the sale of Verratti to fund an entire reconstruction of the position.
Goalkeeper
Realistically, Gianluigi Donnarumma is one of the last players that PSG should consider changing. However, quality goalkeepers are fairly rare and the Italian qualifies for that tag despite a difficult first few seasons in Paris. Forcing the club’s hand somewhat is the fact that Donnarumma might be one of the few sellable assets that they currently possess and with Keylor Navas still technically on the books, he could be sold to enable changes to be made in more important positions. Should a French shot stopper like Ilan Meslier be available in the even that Leeds United get relegated out of the Premier League, for example, there might be a temptation to go for the young Frenchman and cash in on the Azzurri star who is only one year older. It would not be an ideal scenario and is certainly not a priority compared with the defense and midfield. Still, Donnarumma’s game with the ball at his feet does leave a bit to be desired, and his shot-stopping is less decisive while PSG’s rearguard continues to leak goals against opponents of any semi-decent quality.
Attack
While Kylian Mbappé remains under contract, PSG are sorted going forward. Lionel Messi leaving or not does not change the fact that the French superstar is incredibly prolific and Neymar Jr. returning to fitness means that the attacking setup will always be strong—at least on paper. Sure, variety is needed with a focal point and target man profile required to enable PSG to play a different way to their current approach, but Mbappé’s versatility and effectiveness in pretty much all positions and status as the figurehead of the team dictates that the position is the least of the Ligue 1 leaders’ worries while he remains at Parc des Princes. That might become more problematic in 12 months’ time, but PSG needs to tackle their weaker areas at hand first before worrying what the future might hold. Simply standing still will not be enough to convince Mbappé that his future belongs in Paris, and then it will be a crisis. With or without Hugo Ekitiké, a new type of striker is needed for next season, and it could even be that Mauro Icardi gets given a second chance if he is not moved on this summer.