Galacticos in Paris: Here’s looking at you, PSG

Among the quotes attributed to American businessman Warren Buffet is this: “Money is not everything. Make sure you earn a lot before speaking such nonsense.”

Paris St-Germain (PSG) know that money can’t buy love or success, but they do have “a lot” and rarely has that been a hindrance to getting either.

It helped them get Lionel Messi within days of his making a phone call to PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino. But even before that the club had made a string of smart buys. On free transfers, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Georginio Wijnaldum added heft to a squad that had managed to get to a Champions League final and a semi-final in successive years without them. Achraf Hakimi joined from Inter Milan for 70m euros.

Add to the new signings an established name such as Angel di Maria who had the most assists (9) for PSG in the league last season. The jury is out on Kylian Mbappe signing a fresh deal but PSG did push the right buttons at Messi’s unveiling in a bid to get the World Cup winner to stay. No such problems with Neymar who had left Barcelona ostensibly to get out of Messi’s shadow but is now happy to be “back together.”

Messi-Neymar-Mbappe, assuming Pochettino can fit them together, is the mother of all frontlines. Or could be since Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez kitted up at Barcelona; Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino helped Liverpool end their 30-year wait for a league title and Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo took Real to a Champions League “decima.”

What PSG have behind them is equally intimidating. There’s Marco Verratti, fresh from winning the Euros and a player Messi called a “phenomenon”, along with Leandro Paredes, Danilo Pereira and Wijnaldum, who was the kind of tireless midfield engine that every team with ambitions for dominating needs. Hakimi on the right, Ramos and Marquinhos as centre-backs and the promising Presnel Kimpembe on the left is an option at the back with Donnarumma, whose ability defies belief that he is 22, in goal.

“These are the best players in the world in every position. It’s a great squad and I hope I can help,” said Messi.

So are PSG Galacticos 3.0, an extension of an idea Real Madrid developed through two cycles of star-studded rosters from 2000 to 2018? There are similarities on and off the pitch. Like with the first set of galacticos, especially after David Beckham joined in 2003, Messi’s arrival in Paris has led to a spurt in shirt sales.

“You’re going to be shocked, honestly, in the numbers that we have,” said PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi while talking about the commercial impact of signing Messi.

Messi has shown that 34 is no age for his other-worldly prowess to wane so the odds on PSG — and not defending champions Lille — winning Ligue 1, the French top tier, is the shortest. The questions before PSG start their first home game in Ligue 1 on Saturday are more on the lines of whether they can emulate Arsenal (2003-04) and Juventus (2011-12) and stay unbeaten. In 2015-16, PSG won the league on March 13 and finished 31 points ahead of second-placed Lyon. Can they better that this time? In a league where many, if not all but PSG, are struggling financially, can they better their highest points’ tally of 96 (2015-16)?

With a roster not dissimilar to what wide midfielder Steve McManaman had called the “Disneyfication of Real” when his club made signing one big name an annual affair, PSG, according to Sky Bet, also have the best chance of winning the Champions League.

For all the glamour and talent available, the first set of galacticos–a squad that had Iker Casillas, Roberto Carlos, Zinadine Zidane, Raul, Claud Makelele, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and Guti–had a Champions League trophy (2001-02) sandwiched between two La Liga titles but won nothing for three seasons from 2003. A squad lacking in balance — “why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?,” Zinedine Zidane had asked when Real sold defensive midfielder Makelele — and the sudden sacking of Vicente del Bosque were the main reasons why Real weren’t a team of superheroes.

In the works from 2009, the second version of Real’s superstars project was more successful in Europe, delivering four Champions League titles in five seasons including three in a row under Zidane as coach. In 2016-17, Zidane also guided Real to the La Liga and Champions League double.

They have eight players above 30 in their galacticos, but PSG’s squad looks more balanced than the Madrid ones.

Yet as Messi said in Paris: “In Champions League, not always does the best team win.” The squad that usually does is the one that stays united, he said, based on the experience of being part of four successful campaigns.