Le Championnat: The story of power, wealth and youth development
The new French Ligue 1 ball on display
“If Barca pay the buy-out clause of Thiago Silva then I will meet Messi’s buy-out clause,” this wasn’t a quote that the French media could put aside and laugh upon, extremely ambitious but completely true. Nasser Al-Khelaifi has revolutionised Paris Saint-Germain since buying the club back in 2011. Once a former professional tennis player now turned sports businessman thanks to his vast wealth, has put the Parisians on the map of European Football, and after nearly coming close to beating Barcelona in last season’s Champions League, the investment off the pitch looks certainly ever more like paying off on the pitch.
Take last season for example, after spending a combined fee of 161 million Euros in 2012, including signing marquee players Thiago Silva and Swedish genius Zlatan Ibrahimovi? from Milan, France’s Ccpital club was able to finally claim domestic glory under their president Al-Khelaifi after a slow start, by winning Ligue 1 twelve points ahead of main rivals Marseille. The money doesn’t seem an issue for the owner at any circumstance (Marquinhos a perfect example where money is no object). The club have gone from a youth filled side who struggled to survive the last decade in the top division, to France’s version of Los Galácticos.
With new coach Laurent Blanc taking control of the club after being appointed following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti to Madrid, PSG look almost certain to defend their Championship crown successfully, with forward Edinson Cavani being brought in from Napoli for 64 million Euros, the goals department should be firing them in from every angle if the towering duo of Ibrahimovi? and Cavani can form a mean striking partnership.
Besides being able to live in a modern, picturesque and vibrant city, PSG can offer you all of this along with a chance of being part of this huge project, plus the immense financial benefits the club can provide, joining the Parisian club possibly over the once great Madrid side could be a sight we may start seeing in the foreseeable future if all goes to plan. What does this show? Power and wealth has a lot to do with how the beautiful game is played in the world today.
The predicted finish for PSG, in my opinion, will be again seeing Thiago Silva lift the coveted Ligue 1 trophy, but Champions League glory is obviously the next step for their European take-over, but with the Germans showing last season how potentially superior they could be against the rest of the teams in the Champions League, Paris may yet have to wait half a decade to finally lift the cup with big ears.
The principality of Monaco, the elite prestigious state that reached the 2004 Champions League final. That side had consisted of Morientes, Giuly and was led by French legend Didier Deschamps as Manager, became a joy to watch and a team that put fear into everyone’s eyes who they played that season, this was particularly shown by beating Real Madrid and Chelsea on the way to finally meeting The Special One’s Porto who eventually beat Les Rouge et Blanc 3-0.
So what happened to this magnificent AS Monaco side? If you’re not an avid French League fan then you might be completely shocked to know that AS Monaco were relegated back in 2011 after going into major decline from their glory days seven years before. 2011 wasn’t all doom and gloom for the club though; Russian Billionaire and 119th richest man on the Forbes list of Billionaires bought a controlling stake in the club, taking over AS Monaco. Immediately gaining promotion back to Ligue 1, this summer Dmitry Rybolovlev has vastly spent and shocked the Footballing world by signing Radamel Falcao for 53 million pounds. Will the price tag be too much weight on the Colombian’s shoulders? Or can he somehow justify his full price by leading AS Monaco to their eighth title.
After watching many of Atlético Madrid’s games in La Liga last season, I came to the conclusion that Falcao is most definitely a world beater and probably the best natural forward presently, a huge call made on my behalf but seeing him score against both Classico teams this season including taking his side to the final of the Copa del Rey final against Madrid rivals Real at the Bernabeu, a seriously daunting task for any Atlético side.