Some of the best players in the world currently wear the shirt of Paris Saint-Germain, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a happy ship.
The Ligue Un giants are once again walking the domestic league, but it’s in Europe where they really need to make their mark.
A maiden Champions League would do wonders for their profile, and one suspects that their best chance of doing so will come this season, before Kylian Mbappe is expected to leave the club to join Real Madrid.
In fact, the winning of the premier European tournament could be the only thing that keeps another world-class star in the French capital.
It’s fair to say that Lionel Messi probably hasn’t had quite the impact that he or the club expected to this point.
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Whilst he hasn’t been poor as such, nor has he set Paris alight with the kind of consistently high level of play that he displayed at Barcelona.
Now, former Spanish international, Lobo Carrasco, has suggested that if PSG don’t win the Champions League this season, Messi could end his two-year contract a year early.
“Messi will always miss the ‘modus vivendi’ he had in Barcelona,” he said on El Chiriguito TV, cited by The Mirror.
“If he succeeds, which means winning the Champions League, he could extend his stay for another year.
“If PSG don’t win the Champions League then this year is going to be a long one.
“I don’t think he regrets his decision in a sporting sense, but on a personal level he realised (he made a mistake).”
Losing two of their biggest stars in the same transfer window would be a huge blow from which PSG might not recover.
Money appears to be no object for the club, but any new signings might think twice about joining if the likes of Messi and Mbappe can’t get the club to the promised land.