There are four days left before the summer transfer window closes, and with the exception of the Italian Alessandro Florenzi, PSG have still not recruited players to replace the starters: Thiago Silva, Thomas Meunier, Edinson Cavani and Tanguy Kouassi.
Asked this Thursday at a press conference on the possibility of not having any new reinforcements by Monday, October 5, the market closing date, Thomas Tuchel was moved by this prospect and put pressure on his sports director .
In short, the German demands recruits, and quickly, at the risk of not being able to match last season's goals.
“If we stay with this group, we cannot ask for the same thing, honestly, comments the Parisian coach.
If you look at the situation, Liverpool have signed two players.
Manchester City bought two defenders.
Atlético have taken Luis Suarez.
Inter have two Champions League teams.
It's a big challenge to fight against these teams.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's very difficult.
"
Discrepancies on the positions to be filled
Tuchel follows in the footsteps of his players, like Mbappé or Kimpembe, who until recently requested reinforcements from their management.
But this is the first time that the former Dortmund coach has called Leonardo so clearly, at least in public.
In the light of their relationship, without waves so far, some will evoke a clash.
It is in any case a real pass of arms between two men who are already opposing each other quietly on the positions to be filled.
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Leonardo is looking for a defensive midfielder, while Tuchel wants a central defender to take Marquinhos up a notch.
During his first season, Tuchel had sometimes made fun of Antero Henrique's inability to sign Leandro Paredes at the end of January 2019. “I looked for him in the showers, in the changing rooms, in the physiotherapy room, with the guards, but he's not there.
We laugh about it, but we should cry about it, ”had let go of the German who had icy relations with the former sports director.
Towards a very "light" transfer window
This time, Tuchel put a layer on the Portuguese.
But he also associated Leonardo in the incompetence of the capital club to anticipate the end of contracts of its players.
The second blade in a way.
“We lose too many players without receiving money, plague the German.
It started when I arrived with Rabiot, a great, great player.
He left free.
This can continue with Di Maria, Draxler, Bernat.
This is the worst for a club: to give up a player without receiving any money.
It's too much for a club like PSG, for the status of PSG.
It's hard not to see a stone in Leonardo's garden.
As if the German coach was already anticipating a summer transfer window that will not really meet his expectations.
This is also a strong trend in recent hours.
On all floors of the club, we seem to be preparing the ground for a very "light" market, whether it be for departures or arrivals.
Many names are still mentioned - Antonio Rüdiger, Tiémoué Bakayoko, Dele Alli - but no lead seems to be on the verge of succeeding.
Leonardo is often used to accelerating at the very end of the transfer window, but this year he could take a break constrained by the economic context.
Unless he is "creative" or "finds solutions that are not too expensive", in his own words.
You can never totally exclude it.
