PSG to shift focus following likely exit of Lionel Messi

MANCHESTER, England: Lionel Messi’s impending exit from Paris Saint-Germain could mark the beginning of the end of the French soccer club’s era of excess. The Argentina great’s departure after this season has the potential to be every bit as significant as the host of superstar signings since Qatari money transformed PSG into one of the richest clubs in the world. Barring a sudden change of heart from either side, Messi is set to leave when his current contract expires in a few weeks.

While that paves the way for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner to earn a reported $400 million a year in Saudi Arabia, it also gives PSG a chance to pivot away from a strategy that hasn’t quite worked out and turn instead to developing local talent. Owned by Qatar Sports Investments since 2011, PSG have dominated French soccer and signed some of the biggest names in the sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Messi. But the team have yet to win European club soccer’s biggest prize, the Champions League.

If anything, PSG are slipping further away from the trophy they crave the most after back-to-back eliminations in the round of 16 over the past two seasons. Despite a roster stacked with world-class talent, the club have gone out at that stage of the competition in five of the last seven seasons and only reached the final once in their history, in 2020. Not even the dream team of Messi, Mbappe and Neymar have been able to alter that.

While Messi’s exit makes things appear clear now, the shift in strategy to focus on young talent seems to have started last year. A state-of-the-art training center in Poissy is close to completion and will provide a base to nurture the best young players France produces. At the heart of