Barely arrived, already gone. Still between two planes, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi had planned to be present on Tuesday, for the first real collective session at the PSG Campus, the new training center in Poissy (78). He kept his word. A strong symbolic presence, just to mark the occasion and to preach the good word, after a 2022-23 season which will not go down in history, that’s a sweet understatement… The 2023-24 campaign must mark a new start. It is the objective. And this despite the vagueness that still reigns around Kylian Mbappé. If Bondy’s crack repeats to anyone willing to listen that he wants to stay in Paris next season… without an extension, “NAK” has clearly established, on the sidelines of the presentation of the new coach, Luis Enrique, that without an extension, the captain of the Blues will be pushed towards the exit this summer. And this in order not to take the risk of seeing him go free at the end of the contract, in 2024. Since? Nothing.
And it is not the day of Tuesday which made it possible to advance the schmilblick. Admittedly, the Qatari president was there, but, according to our information, he did not speak with Mbappé. Difficult to draw conclusions from this lack of face to face between Mr. Al-Khelaïfi and the one he still described last year as “the cornerstone of the project and the club”. “Everything was very deliberately concentrated around the team”, we are told, and not only on one player, in this case “KM”, whose future is however on everyone’s lips. In summary, the situation hasn’t changed since Luis Enrique’s presentation press conference: the club is waiting for clarification from the player on his position, while the club’s is unchanged, a transfer or an extension. President Al-Khelaïfi had mentioned a two-week deadline, but as Le Figaro had indicated, this date should not be taken literally.
On the other hand, it is clear that Paris Saint-Germain are waiting for a definitive answer on July 31. Tick tock… Why July 31? It is until this date that the existing option for 2024-25 can be activated. Of course, both parties can also agree on a new contract at any time, including after July 31. Sources close to the club suggest that a departure at the end of his contract, and therefore without transfer compensation, would amount to a “sabotage” of the club, which would have to sell en masse to support the shortfall. We are talking about an XXL indemnity, the “fair price for the best player in the world, author of a hat-trick in the World Cup final”.
Still, Tuesday was the day of the collective, not of Mbappé. Remember that the recovery was set for last week, but the internationals were not expected until Monday in Poissy, for the traditional medical tests. 14 players concerned (Ruiz, Danilo, Vitinha, Skriniar, Asensio, Mbappé, Hakimi, Navas, Verratti, Sanches, Housni, Donnaruma, Marquinhos, Zaire-Emery). The Parisian club has also given news of its injured, including Neymar, who “should partially participate in collective training this week”, and Presnel Kimpembe, who “should resume racing in early August”. Nordi Mukiele has already resumed running and ball exercises on the pitch. Reassuring. More than the Nuno Mendes case, victim of a “rupture of the joint tendon of the right hamstring this summer”. Often injured last season, the young Portuguese international is out for several weeks.
Before this first real collective session, in any case the first with the whole group, the Parisians posed in front of the training center and had a thought for their comrade Sergio Rico, who is apparently out of danger after come very close to death at the end of May. “First training all together. You are with us Sergio Rico”, can we read as a caption for a photo of the group, with Nasser Al-Khleaïfi, football adviser Luis Campos and captain Marquinhos who hold the jersey of the 29-year-old Spanish goalkeeper, who does not will probably never play football again.
For the rest, we will remember that “NAK” spoke for about fifteen minutes in front of the group. A speech of firmness and intransigence, we are told, which aimed to confirm the new policy of Paris Saint-Germain, the one that was highlighted by the sanction imposed on Leo Messi after his round trip in Saudi Arabia at the end of last season. “Nobody is above the institution,” explained the Qatari leader in substance, saying that those who do not respect the institution or firmly wear the club’s crest have nothing to do in Paris. After having built “the best facilities in the world” in Poissy, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi believes that the players have absolutely everything to flourish and therefore have “no excuse” for not succeeding. The definition of success? The one he mentioned to the press a few weeks ago in Poissy. “Concentrate on performance and the results will come,” he said again, claiming “exciting football”, the one that “Lucho” also wants, 100% offensive.
More interestingly, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi explained this in front of the group: “The coach has the power to do what he wants, he is the one who decides. We are all moving in the same direction, with the coach, the staff and Luis Campos. The kind of speech that should have been held since the beginning of the QSI era, will raise the most slanderous. But maybe it’s worth pointing out that it’s never too late? The Parisian president also reaffirmed that the club with 11 French championship titles is entering “a new era, with a new state of mind and a new mentality”, indicating that it is necessary to move forward “all together in the same direction”. And to add: “You have to be happy to be here, and above all faithful.” On good terms…
In summary, players are asked to give back to the fans and the club what they are given. This is undoubtedly what he explained to Milan Skriniar, Marco Asensio, Manuel Ugarte, Lucas Hernandez, Kang-in Lee and Cher Ndour, the six Parisian recruits. If he did not have a one-on-one with Kylian Mbappé, the Parisian president spoke personally with each of the six new players. He then attended this first real working session under the orders of Luis Enrique. What’s next? First trial run next Friday, in Poissy (in camera), before flying off for the tour of Japan on Saturday. In the meantime, the framework has been set by Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. To see if this speech will be followed by effects.
