Paris Saint-Germain have decided to sell five players in the final weeks of the summer in order to slim down their wage bill after the most memorable transfer window in recent memory.
Maurcio Pochettino’s side were able to seal the free transfer of the century as Lionel Messi arrived in the French capital after Barcelona were unable to register him for the new season.
Alongside Messi, PSG also signed the Euro 2020 winner Gianluigi Donnarumma, former Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, wing-back Achraf Hakimi and Messi’s former arch rival Sergio Ramos.
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Whilst the majority of the signings were free transfers, the French club have reportedly spent hundreds of millions of wages as Messi’s contract alone is rumoured to be around €35 million a season after tax.
Despite all these incomings, PSG have only been able to sell one player so far this summer as they sold left-back Mitchel Bakker to Bayer Leverkusen for €10 million.
According to the French publication Le Parisien, Julian Draxler, Pablo Sarabia, Rafinha Alcantara, Layvin Kurzawa and Thilo Kehrer are the five names that Pochettino has decided to be surplus to requirements.
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With all the adjustments to the PSG squad in recent months, many fans and pundits have declared them as the new “Galacticos”.
When Pochettino was asked about his incredible squad ahead of the new season, he said: “The aim is to make a top team from all these top players. It’s an immense challenge that we are taking on with enthusiasm.
“We’re going to have to work out how to all work together to create a dynamic in which each can find his role. If we don’t play together and don’t work hard enough, it’ll be difficult to play as we want to. We’ll have to have the constant feeling that we are a demanding and united team.”
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