Buyers v Sellers set to trade blows as PSG and Monaco square up
● Mbappe to line up for big spenders against former club as cultural opposites meet in French League Cup final
Paris Saint-germain versus Monaco in the League Cup final on Saturday could almost be renamed Buyers v Sellers.
Both sides put the French league in the spotlight during the summer, with combined sales and purchases close to €800 million (£701.5m).
While Monaco sold key players to England’s cash-rich Premier League, PSG bought Neymar for €222m from Barcelona and ensured Monaco’s coffers remained full with the acquisition of Kylian Mbappe for €180m.
“PSG are favourites,” Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev said ahead of the final. “We’re up against a team which was already strong last season but strengthened by spending €400m, whereas we sold for €360m.”
Neymar is recovering from foot surgery but Mbappe is fit to face his former club. The 19-year-old forward has scored 19 goals for PSG and struck twice in France’s 3-1 win at World Cup hosts Russia on Tuesday.
Monaco have a Russian structure. Vasilyev answers to president Dmitry Rybolovlev, who took over in December 2011, a few months after Qatari-backed QSI took control at PSG and installed Nasser Al-khelaifi as president.
Both sides were struggling when the takeovers occurred. Monaco were in the second division and bereft of funds, while PSG were dealing with a major hooligan problem.
With the help of major cash influxes, both clubs improved quickly. Coach Claudio Ranieri got Monaco back into Ligue 1 while Al-khelaifi made a statement of intent by hiring Carlo Ancelotti.
The presidents are contrasting characters. While Alkhelaifi regularly speaks in front of TV cameras – lamenting PSG’S defeat at the hands of Real Madrid three weeks ago – Rybolovlev is a discreet figure. It was a rare sight yesterday when the Russian billionaire attended training.
“The president is 100 per cent behind the club, he’s the leader of this project,” Vasilyev said. “His arrival (at training) is another sign that he’s very committed.”
The League Cup is the only trophy his team can realistically win this season. League leaders PSG are 17 points ahead of Monaco, who are fighting for second place and automatic qualification for the Champions League. What Vasilyev means by “project” is unclear, given Monaco dismantled the stylish side which won the French title in 2017.
That move raised questions about Monaco’s ambitions, having done the same thing when selling key players three years earlier.
Fans have cause for concern, considering the club sold Mbappe to a domestic rival, and must worry about who might go next.
Defensive midfielder Fabinho almost pushed through a move to PSG in August, only for the club to block him. Coach Leonardo Jardim is touted as a possible replacement for Arsene Wenger if he leaves Arsenal, while Poland centre-half Kamil Glik is also reportedly considering a move.
Although Vasilyev believes such rumours are designed to unsettle the club, Monaco’s track record for selling hardly helps.
“I saw the rumours concerning Jardim, Glik and Fabinho. It makes me smile they came out a few days before the final,” Vasilyev said. “I can assure you it hasn’t affected us.”
The match in Bordeaux is a repeat of last year’s final, which PSG won 4-1.
Jardim’s side have lost only one of 19 games since going out of the Champions League in December, and are unbeaten in nine.
PSG are aiming to win the League Cup for a fifth straight year. It would be the first step in their bid for a domestic treble, which may soften the blow of a second straight exit in the last 16 of the Champions League.
FINANCIAL GAP “We’re up against a team which was already strong last season but strengthened by spending €400m, whereas we sold for €360m
VADIM VASILYEV