PSG cannot give Kylian Mbappe what he deserves

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Kylian Mbappe will go another year in Paris without success in Europe. Mbappe is the face of the next generation, yet he is a superstar that will ultimately never achieve the most prestigious club football prize while playing for Paris Saint-Germain.

Paris Saint-Germain were knocked out once again in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, making it the fifth time in the last seven years the French club have been eliminated at this point, with every failure being more damning than the last.

Everyone knows PSG want the Champions League, it has been their unrelenting desire since their change of ownership back in 2011. In 12 seasons of ownership, PSG have one Champions League final defeat to show for changing the financial landscape of European Football.

PSG began their chase for Champions League glory with acquiring superstars, and it is this very ideology that has been their downfall. Every year there is disappointment and every year there are more big-name signings.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Thiago Silva and Angel Di Maria all moved to Paris in their prime and failed. Then PSG broke the world transfer record for Neymar, over 200 million Euros to bring the Champions League to Paris, but this was still not enough. Spending 180 million Euros on a 18-year-old Mbappe, and even signing Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos, has still resulted in failure.

World class managers who have succeeded in England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France and the UEFA Champions League have all come and failed. Carlo Ancelotti, Laurent Blanc, Thomas Tuchel, Unai Emery and Mauricio Pochettino have arrived with promise and left having to rebuild their careers.

The short-term fixes for long-term problems is why Kylian Mbappe will never find European success at Paris-Saint-Germain. A club that prioritises big money moves over genuine academy prospects will never have a foundation to build long term success. Chritopher Nkunku, Mike Maignan, Kingsley Coman, Adrien Rabiot, Moussa Diaby and Timothy Weah have all left PSG’s academy to make space for incoming stars. These players that have left, have either found success in the Champions League or consistently perform at Champions League level.

Mbappe is now PSG’s all time top scorer, surpassing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani with 201 goals and is still only 24-years-old. The player that has won the World Cup, been a top scorer in a World Cup and has 347 goal contributions in his career, should not be suffering in the UEFA Champions League every year. Unless something changes in France, Kylian Mbappe’s career will be stunted if he stays at Paris Saint-Germain.

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Dylan Johnson