Is Mbappe transfer beginning of the end for Qatar’s PSG project?
Robin Bairner
- 7 May 2022 15:56 BST
- 3 min read
Kylian Mbappe faces a big decision whether to stay at Paris Saint-Germain or transfer to Real Madrid – and it is a call that could have a profound impact on the Ligue 1 champions.
Out of contract at the end of June, there remains a ferocious tug-of-war between the two parties. It was announced in the first days of May by Le Parisien that he had agreed a new deal with PSG only for the claims to be swiftly rebuffed by his mother.
PSG are desperate to tie him down to a new deal, aware just how much of their project hinges on him. There may be a myriad of superstars at Parc des Princes, including attacking cohorts Neymar and Lionel Messi, but there is little doubt that Mbappe is their leader.
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Not only does the forward have 24 goals and 16 assists in Ligue 1 this season – leading the division in both statistics – but he is also the glue that sticks several different factions together in the dressing room.
It might be going too far to say that without Mbappe, PSG are nothing, but they would certainly not be the force to be reckoned with that they are presently.
Mbappe is PSG’s glue
Beyond the potential loss of the World Cup winner, too, there are other aspects of his potential transfer to consider.
There have been rumours that Qatar could pull out of PSG once the World Cup has been held later this year. These have been backed up by the scaling down of the state’s Aspire Academy.
Could losing Mbappe by a further trigger to signal the end of the QSI project in France? If it proves to be, there are unlikely to be other buyers as eager to pour money into the team as the Qataris have been.
Certainly, over the last decade QSI have discovered that running a football team is not simply a case of buying the best players, there is far more to it than that. PSG have been shambolic in the background and have failed at any point of the last decade to impose a recognisable philosophy to their play.
The fans are unhappy that they have seen opportunities to win the Champions League squandered by players they consider to be mentally soft mercenaries.
Amid this discontent, abuse and stress, the Mbappe transfer saga could be the catalyst to breaking QSI’s resolve and sees them scale down their controversial PSG project.
