Flat calm in Paris.
While we were waiting for the very active PSG on the transfer market, after the departures of several free players (Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, Thomas Meunier, Tanguy Kouassi…), we do not see anything coming.
Almost nothing.
Mauro Icardi and Sergio Rico are permanently transferred, after a season on loan.
Alexandre Letellier returns to the fold as the third goalkeeper.
And Alessandro Florenzi arrived on loan from AS Rome, at the right-back position.
Suddenly, Thomas Tuchel is openly worried.
He spoke about it this Thursday, on the eve of the reception of Angers (9 p.m., 6th day of Ligue 1), in a press conference, noting that his group is simply less good than last year.
"It's the reality, you have to be able to say it," he squeaks.
For the moment, we do not have the same quality, nor the same players. "
»READ ALSO -
No sanction for Neymar and Alvaro after the volcanic PSG-OM
Moreover, the tracks mentioned in the media are not really flashy, and it seems that the club in the capital does not have the means to carry out other operations than loans.
To have.
In the meantime, Tuchel is preparing for the eventuality of not seeing anyone arrive by October 5th.
"Maybe ... Today is the reality anyway," he laments.
I don't know if we are going to recruit other players, we have to wait.
If we stay like that, it won't be impossible and we will never stop pushing the players we work with, we will never stop giving confidence, we will never accept not to win, we always play to win.
But that's the reality today, we have a small team.
With a season like that, the national team, the coronavirus, without preparation and with a program like that, I'm afraid that we will pay the price in October, November, December, January ... I am worried.
Maybe that won't happen.
I will try everything if the situation stays like this.
Let's wait a bit for the end of the transfer window, then we can talk about our objectives.
There are still a few days left and I still have confidence. "
Remember that PSG is targeting an attacking player and at least a midfielder or a central defender, or even both at best.
"If it stays like that, maybe we can't ask for the same things"
Thomas tuchel
Still, the Bavarian would not approach the C1 with the ambition to return to the final, or even better, if no rookie came to strengthen the red and blue group.
Or at least we shouldn't expect so much.
“It doesn't mean that I can lose every game, that I don't want to win or that I'm going to leave it like that, no.
We will do as much as possible, we will do the job at the best possible level, we will never accept apologies, he notes.
But we're going to face reality too, we lost these guys.
If it stays that way, maybe we can't ask for the same things.
Maybe we can do it, but we can't ask for the same with a small team because we have to fight with very strong clubs in the transfer window, like Liverpool, City, Atlético or the Inter.
The club knows very well which players, which profiles we need, after the analysis of last season, and now we have to wait. "
And to add, on the subject of ambitions in “Champions'”: “It's sport, it's football, everything is possible.
To do the same, you need luck too.
But if we keep the group as it is today, we cannot ask for the same thing.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's harder if we stay like this.
And it was already difficult in 2019-20 (smile). ”
There is also another subject that will arise quickly, that of overtime.
Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler and Juan Bernat have only one year of contract, not to mention the Neymar and Kylian Mbappé cases, linked until 2022. “We lose too many free players.
It started with Adrien Rabiot, a great player.
It can continue with Draxler, Di Maria, Bernat and it's the worst for all clubs not to have money to reinvest, and it's too much for PSG, for the status we want to have in Europe ” , he gets carried away.
The message got through.
To see how Leonardo and the club will have received it ...
Behind the scenes of PSG's victory against Reims (0-2)
Read also
Alvaro Gonzalez relieved: "The nightmare is partly over"