Move over Manchester City, there is a new big spender in town. After Qatar Investment Authority gained sole control over Paris Saint-Germain, the club has been on a major spending spree. So far, PSG has spent over $122.7 million during this transfer period.
The first of the major signings was Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli. The Argentine international cost $38 million and will be joining fellow Argentine international Javier Pastore. It seems as though Pastore is happy to have Lavezzi join the Paris club. According to Yahoo! Sports, Pastore said, “I got to know him in national team, and his coming here has made me very happy. It’s certain that he will bring us a lot going forward, and that is decisive for us.”
This week, the other major signings were finished for PSG. They were able to buy the services of both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva from AC Milan. The duo cost PSG over $75 million and Ibrahimovic will make $18.4 million annually. This will make Ibrahimovic the highest paid player in Ligue 1. The addition of these two players is a huge boost for PSG and a massive loss for AC Milan. Ibrahimovic was the leading scoring in Serie A last season, scoring 28 goals in the AC Milan jersey. PSG will be hoping he keeps this goal-scoring record up in his new league.
The upcoming season will provide a large challenge for PSG. Last season, PSG finished second in Ligue 1, three points behind Montpellier, and will be playing in the Champions League this upcoming season. Therefore, these players will need to bring their A game immediately so that PSG will be able to compete in the Champions League. Something positive that PSG will be able to rely on is experience in the Champions League. They now have Thiago Silva, Thiago Motta, Alex, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ezequiel Lavezzi, who all have experience in the Champions League that will be extremely helpful for PSG to compete and possibly go far in the tournament.
On a less positive note, Manchester City showed that it takes more than money to assemble a team that can win the Champions League. Similar to PSG, Manchester City has paid an outrageous amount of money to bring in players and create an elite team. However, the men in Manchester City jerseys failed to make it out of the group stage in the Champions League.
One thing is certain; PSG will be a fun team to watch during the upcoming season. They have put together a team full of talented players and it will be interesting to see how the players gel on the field. It will also be fun to watch them play against the best players in Europe in the Champions League.
Written By: Eric Stoyanov, Contributing Writer, soccerprose.com
