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PSG's season ending with a Kylian Mbappe contract renewal is incredible for the fanbase of the club. After he flirted with Real Madrid for such a long time, he ended up staying in Paris until 2025. However, this is where the real work begins for PSG. Now, they need to clear this roster of players that are the deadweight and assemble a team that could have a chance of winning the Champions League. Here are the three players PSG must move on from this summer.
Players PSG must move on from this summer
Mauro Icardi
To be perfectly honest, there are likely a ton of football fans around the world that forgot Icardi was even in Paris. What is interesting, however, is that Icardi played two more games than Neymar this season. However, his goalscoring tally for PSG since coming over from Inter is very poor. This season, Icardi just scored five goals in all competitions, and overall in PSG, he got 38 in 92 games, mostly due to his prolific first season. Icardi is a great player, there is no doubt about that. The Argentinian scored 124 for Inter in just six years, but this season proved that Icardi is somewhat past his best. It could be the bitter issues he had outside of the field, but generally speaking, he is underperforming for his wage and could clear up a spot for someone much better.
Considering the fact that PSG wants to be in contention for the Champions League, they need to utilize their whole roster. Having Icardi just do nothing when he is on the field while picking up a massive wage, is simply not a good thing for a club that needs every part of their squad. Selling him now would cut the losses and also open up a spot for the likes of Jonathan David, a young striker that would not be great right away, but could become the finished product over time. Having someone like Icardi on the roster could also bring about negative press, which is definitely not something PSG wants at this time.
Neymar
This is a very tough one, as Neymar still has the potential, on his day, to be one of the greatest footballers on the planet. There is a reason why Neymar's transfer fee to PSG was so huge and why people in Brazil believed Neymar to be the guy who will bring them back to footballing glory. However, the issue is that it is not his day that often. Neymar is playing seemingly when he feels like playing and when a player is on such a huge wage, that is nowhere near good enough. Now that Mbappe is the new king in the PSG locker room, there is more potential for conflict, as Mbappe seems more competitive than his Brazilian teammate.
If there were to be a situation where Neymar simply does not put in the effort, Mbappe might be inclined to raise the issue with the ownership and create a huge issue for the whole locker room. Thus, since they are committed to a future built around Mbappe, Neymar should be sold. He can still get a hefty fee from a club in Europe, and his massive wage would be taken off the books. Of course, PSG ownership has no issues with paying the wage, but it could be an issue with UEFA and Financial Fair Play. Messi is likely to stay as one season is no indication, while Neymar has either stalled or regressed for the past few. He had some great moments, but this summer is the time for him to leave.
Julian Draxler
The German midfielder has been one of the most underwhelming signings of the Qatari-era of PSG. Some, like Icardi, have mostly flopped, while some, like Mbappe, have been great. Draxler has been underwhelming, generally neither here nor there. He had some good moments, he had times where he did not even really feature for the club. Unfortunately for him, his position of mostly attacking midfielder is not one that is utilized as much in modern football. PSG have to cater to their stars and if there is any player on the roster that can play similar to that offensive midfielder role, it is Messi. Thus, Draxler simply cannot get into the team, at least not playing his position.
PSG needs reinforcements in the middle and while the financially sensible thing to do would be to try out Draxler in the middle, it would not be feasible. Due to that, it is time for both sides to cut their losses and move on. PSG could bring about another player in the midfield that would be more suitable for what they want to do, while Draxler could try out a new league or even return back to Germany, where he had a lot of success playing for Schalke. It has been a fine five-year run for the German, winning a ton of French league titles and making a trip to the Champions League final, but it is time for him to revive his career.
