As detailed by the French sports daily L’Équipe, the summer revolution at PSG shows no signs of slowing down.
After the departure of Lionel Messi for the MLS side Inter Miami and Kylian Mbappé’s refusal to sign a new deal (and subsequent exile), world record signing Neymar and longest-serving senior player Marco Verratti were told they should find new teams in meetings with sporting director Luis Campos and new coach Luis Enrique this week.
As a result, Campos’ list of ‘undesirables’ now totals 20 players, nearly doubling the count of 11 seniors who were told to leave last summer. Although the group of players transfer-listed, or banished to ‘the loft’ away from first team training, is still evolving depending on sales and departures (defender Abdou Diallo was reintroduced to training earlier this week) it now includes Neymar, Verratti, left-back Juan Bernat, recent €40m signing Hugo Ekitike, and Renato Sanches, who suffered a poor debut season in Paris.
Diallo, who spent last season with RB Leipzig, joins fellow former loanees on the list such as Dutch international Georginio Wijnaldum, €43m 2015 signing Julian Draxler, World Cup winner Leandro Paredes, three-time Champions League-winning goalkeeper Keylor Navas, and France international Layvin Kurzawa.
Adding to the squad of players PSG and Campos want out are young right-back Colin Dagba, promising forward Ilyes Housni, ex-Sunderland loanee midfielder Edouard Michut and Timothée Pembélé, who saw a smattering of first-team minutes last season. Academy graduates Vimoj Muntu Wa Mungu, Nehemiah Fernandez-Veliz, Moutanabi Bodiang, Kenny Nagera, and Djeidi Gassama complete the group.
In all, the 20 players transfer-listed are valued at a total of around €210m according to Transfermarkt. When adding the value of Mbappé (who’s considered to be in a slightly different category but has still been exiled from the senior squad), that figure increases to €390m.
With just three weeks left of the transfer window, PSG and Campos have much to do.
Adam White | GFFN
