Premier League: Declan Rice, Guardiola’s most expensive setback
PSG is one of the most active clubs in the transfer market in the last decade. And if the French club has still not been able to win the Champions League, it still continues its way and seems to find a stability in Europe that allows it to be each season, one of the great favorites to the crown. So, if everyone sees Nasser Al-Khelaïfi behind the big decisions that have brought this stability, it is because he is the president, and the truth is that they come from elsewhere.
PSG, which has been doing well on the pitch lately, will have to restructure its management as it tries to do with its workforce. Since we are now in the new expansionist era with the entry of new investors (who will acquire a little more than 10%), the inauguration of the new sports city in Yvelines from 2023 and the possible move to a new stadium. And unless the City does not give in to Al-Khelaïfi’s demands, the club will have to cover the crucial departure of Jean-Claude Blanc, general manager for over ten years.
The proof is that he has already left his post on Monday to join the INEOS project. The prestigious English petrochemical company is also the owner of Nice, which is in the process of imposing itself on the French market by hiring the services of one of the best managers in Ligue 1. For the record, in the French club, he was behind most of the decisions that required the management of delicate situations. That is to say, his approval and approach has been a balm for a club used to settle in nervousness. Jean-Claude Blanc had been a central figure at PSG in recent years, both in terms of sporting results and the positioning of the “PSG” brand.
In 2016, the now former PSG general manager commissioned the renovation of the Parc des Princes for the European Championships and was also the prime contractor for the construction of the new Sports City, which will be inaugurated next year, just before the Olympics to be held in Paris. And if the club was happy with his presence, he is equally happy. This is what he testifies in the press release making his departure official: “The last twelve seasons have been a wonderful professional adventure, I am proud to have helped PSG to become the international sporting power that it is today”.
Moreover, the departure of Jean-Claude Blanc from PSG forces Al Khelaïfi, who was in Doha during the World Cup to negotiate with some potential replacements, to act quickly. And according to L’Équipe, Gregory Durand, the club’s director of legal affairs, is one of the favorites to replace him. A few days earlier, the president had already had to act to sign Pascal Ferré, the legendary former director of France Football magazine, known for his interviews before the Ballon d’Or ceremony, and Michelle Gilbert, from META (Facebook), who will take over as director of communications. This means that a new era already exists in Paris.
