Nobody at PSG appears to be happy, and money won't make things better
It's probably fair to say that the news hasn't gone down well with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Even with all their money, they cannot buy happiness. The Parisians have been in a dilemma since losing 3-1 to Real Madrid in an act of Champions League self-immolation not seen since their last one.
The hidden costs of running football's version of the Harlem Globetrotters have become more apparent. And those on the sidelines watching it all unfold can only marvel at yet another illustration of how money doesn't always buy happiness.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and sporting director Leonardo went straight to the referee's room after the final whistle blew at the Bernabeu to express their displeasure with Real's first goal.
Of course, the term 'complain' does a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. They were unable to locate the officials at first, but once they located the referee's dressing area, they began banging on the door, according to sources. Security personnel were dispatched to remove them and de-escalate the situation.
This is not the first time Leonardo has been embroiled in a similar situation. It appears that Leonardo, at the very least, will have to pay for this with his job.
BREAKING: Kylian Mbappe, Nasser Al-Khelaifi (president and chief executive officer of PSG), Mauricio Pochettino and Leonardo Araujo (sporting director of PSG) will ALL leave PSG... 😳
Via @Romain_Molina https://t.co/Y98tzD2khi
He's been in this position with the club since 2019, although difficulties between him and Al-Khelaifi were reported in the French publication Liberation last year. Even if they were on the same side, this current brawl appears to have severed those links.
According to reports, PSG are considering speaking with Fabio Paratici regarding the role. Spurs fans are less upset about this than most might assume, given the club's track record in the transfer market since Paratici came to north London.
Meanwhile, Al-Khelaifi, Leonardo, and the club are the subject of a UEFA Control, Ethics, and Disciplinary Body inquiry into their actions.
Unhappy PSG dressing room
There were rumors of a changing room brawl between Neymar and Gianluigi Donnarumma after the match, but these have since been debunked. All of this created an unusual atmosphere at the Parc des Princes for their subsequent encounter, against Bordeaux in Ligue One.
PSG's top-of-the-table position at home against the bottom-placed team should have made for a very routine afternoon. In some ways, everything worked out well since the home team won 3-0 without having to shift out of second gear.
But, because PSG isn't really a 'regular' football team, the story of the afternoon turned out to be the fans' reaction to their team's players. It is unthinkable that a squad that self-destructed as badly as PSG did in Madrid would be given a hero's welcome at home.
But the home crowd's reaction provided yet another example of the club's dysfunction. As the squad took the field, they were greeted with booing and whistles, which persisted for much of the game, with special ire directed towards Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Antonela taking in yesterday's PSG match as her husband was being booed 😕 https://t.co/bbmZhEatTO
The fact that it was directed at the two players who were meant to be the final sprinkling of stardust that would guarantee bringing the European Cup to Paris for the first time is stunning.
The dissatisfaction did not end with the last whistle against Bordeaux.
Messages such as 'Leonardo/Nasser, far from us', 'Paris will never be Qatari', and 'Paris is ours' were spray-painted on the Parc des Princes.
All of this speculation highlights how little Mauricio Pochettino is involved in any of it. He has been chastised as much as anyone else, but with his departure at the end of the season now all but guaranteed.
There is an expectation among all parties involved that anything he says or does before then has little to no bearing on the club's long-term goals. PSG will win Ligue One – they're 15 points clear with 10 games to go; failing to win the title from here would be an unprecedented level of ball-dropping.
But the probability that Pochettino will remain in their plans after that is remote to the point of impossibility. For hundreds of years, people have been repeating stories about how money doesn't buy happiness, yet we tend to be resistant to this message.
PSG have all of the money they could ever want, as well as complete control over one of Europe's most recognizable cities. But joy has been eluding them.
Growing distance between ambition and reality
After rejecting a transfer to the Stade de France, they want to expand the Parc du Princes from 48,000 to 60,000 seats, implying that a stadium worthy of all that money will be built at some point.
But there comes a point when it's reasonable to wonder why any of them are bothering with it in the first place. Nobody seems happy with PSG at the moment, not the owners, the coaching staff, the players, or the fans.
There appears to be little policy other than throwing obscenely large sums of money at ill-fitting trinkets that give the impression of greatness, while the trophy that could validate those aspirations remains as far away as ever.
They'll probably get there in the end, but in the meantime, they may take solace in the fact that the rest of the world continues to enjoy their haphazard attempts to consolidate their dominance in European football.