Ligue 1 is back with lack of star power and exacerbated financial imbalances
Mbappé-less league will face teething problems as financial divide widens but managerial talent may signal new era
By Luke Entwistle for Get French Football News
After the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar the previous season, Kylian Mbappé’s acrimonious departure from the Parc des Princes this summer definitively marks the end of Paris Saint-Germain’s “bling bling” era, which by its end was internally perceived as an impediment, not a means to European success. But the centrality of the aforementioned trio, especially Mbappé, to PSG’s success cannot be understated. While the Champions League continues to elude them, they have been the key to asserting the club’s domestic hegemony.
PSG will enter into a league season without an unarguable Galáctico in their midst for the first time in seven years; for rivals, that air of infallibility may have faded. There is a scent of opportunity, a scent that has certainly reached the nostrils of Marseille, who have invested heavily to bridge the gulf in quality between the two sides. However it would be foolish to perceive last season’s domestic treble winners as a sitting duck; PSG still remain a club à part in France – on the financial plane, as well as on the pitch.
