\nPARIS, 23 May: Kylian Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s decision to reject Real Madrid and commit to Paris Saint-Germain for three more seasons marks the start of a large rebuilding project at the French league champion.
\nSince cash-rich Qatari investors took over in 2011, PSG has been a dominant force in France but has consistently failed to replicate that success on the European stage despite spending massive amounts on star players.
\nClub officials now hope that Mbapp\u00e9 decision to snub the Spanish giants will finally lead to the conquest of club soccer\u2019s biggest trophy, the Champions League.
\nIn addition to the colossal sums of money reportedly promised to the 23-year-old forward \u2014 financial terms of Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s new deal have not been disclosed \u2014 the France star has received guarantees that things will change in a big way, with a new coach and a new sporting director likely to be appointed in the coming days or weeks.
\n\u201cThe project has changed,\u201d Mbapp\u00e9 told a news conference on Monday. \u201cThe club wants to change a lot of things on the sports side, so it gives me this desire to continue. My story here is not over.\u201d
\nNew players will also join this summer to help finalize a project that will be centered around the World Cup-winning forward. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said last week that Mbapp\u00e9 will become \u201cthe cornerstone of the club\u2019s project for the years to come, both on and off the pitch,\u201d but the striker is adamant he has not requested the full powers.
\n\u201cI am a soccer player, well anchored in a collective,\u201d Mbapp\u00e9 said. \u201cEven if, of course, players have different status in a team. I remain a soccer player, and I will not go beyond this role.\u201d
\nSitting next to his star player, Al-Khelaifi did not give many details about PSG\u2019s reorganization but acknowledged that he promised to sign new players if Mbapp\u00e9 stayed.
\n\u201cBecause he really deserves it,\u201d Al-Khelaifi said, adding that money was not crucial in convincing Mbapp\u00e9 to reject Madrid\u2019s offer and extend his glitzy partnership with Neymar and Lionel Messi in the French capital city.
\n\u201cThe most important thing for Kylian was the sporting project,\u201d he said, insisting that clubs in Spain were in a position to offer more money than PSG.
\nThe first collateral victim of Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s prolonged stay in the French capital has been sports director Leonardo. The former Brazil international, who returned to the club three years ago, was fired over the weekend following intense discussions.
\nAccording to L\u2019Equipe newspaper, his departure was crucial in the negotiations with Mbapp\u00e9, who pushed for an overhaul of the hierarchy following PSG\u2019s exit in the last 16 of the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid in March.
\nLuis Campos has been tipped as a replacement for Leonardo. The Portuguese is a renowned talent scout with connections in Europe and South America and has been enjoying an excellent relationship with Mbapp\u00e9 and his family. Campos, who previously worked at Lille and Monaco, had played an influential role when Mbapp\u00e9 signed his first professional deal with the Principality side in 2016.
\nOne thing that won\u2019t immediately change at PSG, though, is its habit of frequently changing coaches. Mauricio Pochettino, who sealed PSG\u2019s record-equaling 10th league title but could not avoid another Champions league failure, is unsure about his future at the helm of the Parisian team amid reports in the French media that he will be replaced soon. Speculation over the potential appointment of Zinedine Zidane has been growing in recent days.
\nTo strengthen their squad, PSG officials have also discussed with Mbapp\u00e9 the prospect of recruiting a versatile fullback and several new midfielders. L\u2019\u00c9quipe reported Monday that PSG has made a priority of signing Monaco\u2019s Aur\u00e9lien Tchouam\u00e9ni, with Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 also targeted.
\nMbapp\u00e9 joined PSG from Monaco in 2017 when he was still a teenager. He has already scored 171 goals in just 217 appearances for PSG and won three consecutive player of the season awards, topping the French scoring charts each of the last four seasons.
\nMbapp\u00e9 has often said that playing for Madrid was his childhood dream, and the Frenchman did not rule out making the move at a later stage in his career.
\n\u201cI am really focused on this new contract, what will happen in the future, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. (PTI)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS, 23 May: Kylian Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s decision to reject Real Madrid and commit to Paris Saint-Germain for three more seasons marks the start of a large rebuilding project at the French league champion. Since cash-rich Qatari investors took over in 2011, PSG has been a dominant force in France but has consistently failed to replicate that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-191488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}