Kylian Mbappe wants out of Paris Saint-Germain. The French forward has written to the club’s chiefs to inform them that he has no intention of extending his current contract which expires next summer. PSG are now inclined to cash in on the 24-year-old this summer so they don’t lose him for free in 2024.
This signifies the inevitable end of PSG’s failed project to secure the club’s first Champions League trophy on the back of superstar names. The initiative was ramped up two years ago when Les Parisiens lured Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Achraf Hakimi to Parc des Princes, with Mauricio Pochettino in the dugout. The volume of star-studded transfers was compared to Real Madrid’s Galacticos era, except the Spaniards actually won a Champions League.
Players were brought to PSG for marketing purposes more than anything and it was just assumed that their collective abilities would be enough to crown them the champions of Europe. Almost every football fan could’ve told them it doesn’t work like that and over the past two years they crashed out in the round of 16.
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Messi has already bowed out of this malfunctioned plan, agreeing to join David Beckham’s Inter Miami in MLS, while Neymar has been linked with several clubs already as his position at PSG remains uncertain.
It isn’t the first time that a project in football has gone wrong. There have been some other notable visions in the past that also didn’t quite hit the heights originally set out.
Queens Park Rangers
In 2012, a documentary titled ‘The Four Year Plan’ was released. It followed Queens Park Rangers between 2007 and 2011 in their attempts to gain promotion to the Premier League. In 2007, the club were in financial turmoil and were rescued by Formula 1 tycoons Flavio Briatore, Bernie Ecclestone and the family of Lakshmi MIttal.
They gained notoriety for chopping and changing managers quite frequently, a bit like the modern-day Watford approach. They did, however, secure promotion to the top flight in 2011 as 11th head coach Neil Warnock got them over the finish line. What wasn’t accounted for was keeping them in the Premier League. They were relegated the following year and have only had one brief return to the division since, finishing bottom of the table.
Newcastle United
Sir John Hall took control of Newcastle United in 1990 and appointed Kevin Keegan as manager in 1992, and together they put together a plan to make the Magpies a dominant force in English football. In 1995-96, Hall got out the cheque book to bring in some exciting players from around the world, such as Les Ferdinand and David Ginola, to compete with Manchester United, who were constantly picking up the best players. Newcastle quickly got peoples’ attention with their results and football as they were described as ‘the entertainers’.
They had an excellent start to the season and were top of the table until around mid-March and at one point had a 12-point lead on Manchester United. However, they managed to throw away that advantage, with many pointing to the frivolous signing of Colombian star Faustino Asprilla in January as one recruit too many. The title race itself is remembered as an absolute classic.
The Magpies had to settle for second place for two consecutive years before falling further down the table as the vision continued to break down. With the money that Newcastle have at their disposal today, they will be hoping they can soon rectify that missed opportunity from 27 years ago.
Anzhi Makhachkala
Everyone remembers the time when billionaire-owned Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala grabbed headlines when they signed Champions League winner Samuel Eto’o from Inter Milan in 2011, making him the highest paid player in the world on a deal worth over £300k per week. They also signed Brazilian icon Roberto Carlos from Corinthians and Christopher Samba from Blackburn Rovers.
The following year saw them appoint former Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink as manager, while they brought in Brazilian winger Willian, who later left the club for Stamford Bridge. Despite their vast finances and the superstars in their ranks, Anzhi Makhachkala failed to live up to the expectation of conquering Europe and dominating Russian football.
It turns out throwing money into a football club can come back to bite you, which is exactly what happened to the Eagles. Following many financial problems the club was dissolved in 2022, just 10 years on from when they were viewed as a growing European powerhouse.
Chinese Super League
A few years ago, we saw China try to change the landscape of football by luring the game’s biggest stars to the Chinese Super League for the most lucrative of contracts. Brazilian duo Oscar and Paulinho were among the first big stars to head there during their ‘prime’ years. The league was also able to attract the likes of Carlos Tevez, Didier Drogba, Axel Witsel and Marouane Fellaini, who is still there to this day.
At one point it felt like the financial pull of China was a threat to European football but those feelings were quashed in 2019. New rules were brought in that limited teams to just three foreign players in a match, which hugely impacted the ambitious project’s hopes to put its stamp on the beautiful game.
