Reds’ success highlights how far PSG still have to go on – both on and off pitch
On one of Anfield’s most chaotic nights, nestled amongst all of the unusual happenings was the moment Thomas Tuchel, needing a goal, turned to his bench and told his number 17 he was coming on for his debut. Tuchel knows Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting from their time together in the Bundesliga at Mainz and so, he probably appreciates better than most what the 6ft 3in German centre-forward can bring.
In fairness, an equaliser did follow from Kylian Mbappé three minutes later.
And yet, the introduction of a 29-year-old who scored just five times for Stoke last season, reflects a deeper story about the club he now represents, one that is under pressure to balance their books and meet Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
‘L’Equipe’ reported on Tuesday how Klopp had spent several hours trying to convince Mbappé to join Liverpool in the summer of 2017, promising to make him the joint highest earner beside Philippe Coutinho.
Mbappé was “charmed by Klopp’s eloquence and enthusiasm” but Liverpool could not match the bids made by PSG and Real Madrid. The reality here is that contrasting commitments to FFP influenced outcomes, though perhaps they were not definitive against Liverpool considering they were so far away then from where they are now in sporting terms.
There is a very simple explanation for Fenway’s sudden willingness to start spending big on players like Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.
Has Klopp’s guidance been so seamless that for anyone assessing his work it has become easy to forget that he sold Coutinho mid-season and reached a Champions League final five months later?
Trusted
It is encouraging that Fenway have trusted Klopp and Michael Edwards, the sporting director, to reinvest £200m but it is not outrageous. It is simply a meeting of basic economics, managerial judgment and a development of trust.
If Fenway sold Liverpool tomorrow, the coldest assessment of the last eight years would not reflect generously on them considering Liverpool’s lack of trophies.
History tends to ignore processes and instead focuses on the winners and the losers. But then, Qatari investment in Paris started around the same time as Fenway did at Anfield.
Would history reflect so well on the
arrangement there if it ended quickly, even though there have been five Ligue 1 titles in seven years?
These are owners with very different thoughts about the best way forward and despite Fenway’s struggle to win hearts on Merseyside, Klopp’s appointment has made a lot more seem right about their approach, which off the field has also included an increased stadium capacity and proposals for a new training facility.
Compare this to Paris, where the seats in the ground have changed colour to reflect the team it represents, but the ground is still owned by the city council and not a lot else
has been developed aside from the quality of a squad that authorities are attempting to establish whether was affordable according to the laws of the game.
The spotlight is on them over the measures taken to bring Mbappé and Neymar to the French capital in 2017.
UEFA’s adjudicatory chamber has taken over the PSG case and as deliberations continue, at the very top of the concerns is the thorny issue of credibility: will European football’s governing body be brave enough to enforce their own rules and really punish a club.
PSG cannot be thrown out of this
year’s Champions League but a hefty punishment may follow.
One of UEFA’s responsibilities will be to separate coincidence from fact.
PSG had been under pressure to sell players to balance the books at the end of the financial year in June.
It is a fact, for example, that on June 26, Javier Pastore departed PSG after seven seasons to return to Italy with AS Roma.
It is also a fact that the Argentinian midfielder had just celebrated his 29th birthday, that too his value did not depreciate in terms of how he was regarded by the clubs involved in the deal.
When he left Palermo in 2011 he was owned by a third party and this meant the Sicilians received a couple of million euros less than PSG ended up selling him for all those years later.
It is also a fact that in April, Roma had signed one of the biggest sponsorship deals in Italian history.
Perhaps it is just a coincidence that Roma now have the logo of Qatar Airways emblazoned across their shirts. (© Independent News Service)