Pastore the icing on PSG's costly cake

Pastore doing his thingLast night news began to spread that the unthinkable had happened, namely that PSG had secured the signing of Palermo's Javier Pastore.The prospect of one of world football's most in-demand young talents pitching up at the Parc to spearhead the new era is an exciting one. It would also be a signal of intent that QSI mean business, attracting a star player from a more prestigious competition (Serie A) and from under the noses of a more established club (Chelsea). It would be, in the words of AFP's French football man Tom Williams, a game-changer.Twenty four hours on, the only problem is nothing has been firmed up yet. There has been talk of, er, talks in London today with PSG officials and Pastore's agent, but perhaps unsurprisingly Antoine Kombouare was coy when asked...

Read more »

Three is the magic number - Matuidi, Menez, and Bisevac in profile

Just when it seemed like no business would get done this summer, the three muskateers rode into Paris today, ready to save the Queen of France PSG from the clutches of the dastardly Cardinal Didier Deschamps and OM.Yes the Rouges-et-Bleus have finally completed some signings. Lets take a look at our potential new heroes.Blaise Matuidi (from St Etienne, €7.5million-ish)When I posted about the St Etienne midfielder’s imminent arrival last week, I didn’t stress how much I like the name Blaise. Say it to yourself, it just sounds so strong and dynamic.Matuidi grew up in the, er, charming Parisien suburb Fontenay-sous-bois, and supported PSG as a boy, idolising Nigerian fancy-dan Jay Jay Okocha. His professional career began with Troyes, and established...

Read more »

Power games at the Parc

Since my last post, the PSG have won a match. Hurrah and indeed hooray.Wednesday's 1-0 win over, er, Brighton, came courtesy of that man Nene, and the team are back in action next week as part of a triangular tournament involving AS Roma and the wonderfully named Austrian outfit Wacker Innsbruck, exciting times.Whether any new players will be involved in that match is still open to question. It seems likely Milan Bisevac will be available, with the Serbian defender set to have a medical over the weekend ahead of his €3.5million move from Valenciennes.Another transfer which seems to be making good progress is that of Blaise Matuidi from St Etienne for around €10million. Indeed, according to L'Parisien, ASSE midfielder Laurent Blattles has tweeted that he will miss the "Elastic Man", as Matuidi...

Read more »

Ups and downs, draws and defeats, comings and goings

The PSG players have been very busy on their pre-season tour of Portugal.Volleyball, swimming, and, er, rollercoasters have all been on the agenda judging by the photos on the official club site. With some much going on, winning football matches obviously hasn't been a priority, with a 3-1 defeat to Benfica recorded on Friday night followed by a 1-1 draw with Anderlecht on Saturday.Nene got the only Parisien goal of the Benfica match with this rather delicious chipWhile the Anderlecht game saw Kevin Gameiro find the net for the first time in red and blue with a header which was cancelled out in the second half.There's little point reading too much into pre-season results in my opinion, but nevertheless I'm sure Kombouare will be hoping for a victory when his charges conclude their Iberian...

Read more »

Rumour central: Stop the press, everybody linked

The rumour mill surrounding the PSG ground to something of a halt last week, with the press deciding to stop making up stories about players coming in and instead concentrating on what we can now refer to as Leonardo-gate. But now that Leo is in-situ as the club’s sporting director, it’s perhaps no surprise that the mill had gone into over-drive. "The first thing I will do is talk to the coach and discuss the state of affairs, something I didn't have the right to do before I signed," said Leo. "I don't want to disrupt the team's routine straight away. "The owners want to build lasting success and not go out and buy ten Leo Messi's in one fell swoop. That's not how you build a team. The core of the team is already there, we just need to improve...

Read more »

The Leo from Rio he say maybe

Is there anything more boring than a transfer saga?Will Samir Nasri got to Man City? Or United? Or will he stay at Arsenal? And by the time he’s made his mind up will anyone apart from Sky Sports News care? At this time of year there are always many more questions than answers, and it makes me want to go to sleep and wake up on the first day of the season.Perhaps the only thing duller than a prolonged transfer is a prolonged transfer that doesn’t even involve a player, and in that respect Leonardo’s on/off/on/off/zzzzz move to join the PSG hasn’t disappointed so far.The latest news – such as it is – seems to suggest his bizarre press conference in Milan last week has done the trick and persuaded QSI to give him all the powers he wanted to...

Read more »

Rumour central: Leonardo, Taarabt, Capoue, Anelka

Watching David Haye take an age to enter the ring in Germany on Saturday for his fight against Wladimir Klitschko, my mind wandered to Leonardo’s long-mooted arrival at PSG.Like Haye, Leo’s arrival seems to have taken a disproportionately long time, especially given that he is only going to be sporting director. Let’s hope the Brazilian isn’t going to cry off after his first day at work with a broken toe.Anyway, it appears Leo has finished high-fiving the crowd and glaring angrily at his opponent and is now ready for battle. He could even arrive in Paris today to sign a four-year-contract.His arrival can’t come soon enough, as according to the Parisien, the club are waiting for him to ok moves for Valenciennes defender Milan Bisevac, a long-term...

Read more »

The hunt for the new Messi

Like a cloud of volcanic ash, Qatari Sports Investment have been looming overhead for some time.But this week they finally arrived at the PSG, ready to wreak havoc across the world. Or at least in the transfer market. In fact given the money they supposedly have at their disposal, perhaps it would be more appropriate to refer to them as a c-ash cloud. Or maybe not.Anyway, QSI now own 70 per cent of les Rouges-et-Bleu, and their representative Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has been busy telling anyone who wants to listen that their plan for the club doesn't involve signing Eto'o, Berbatov, or any of the other over-the-hill, over-priced stars that have been linked with a move to the Parc des Princes."More than anything we want the new Messi," said Al-Khelifi....

Read more »