“Paris deserves a better stadium”, and whether it is the Parc des Princes or not will depend on the willingness of the Paris city council to cede the Porte d'Auteuil enclosure to PSG.
Speaking his words in an interview given to Bloomberg on Wednesday, the president of the capital club Nasser Al-Khelaïfi put a coin in a machine that PSG has been dragging since the arrival of the Qataris in Paris.
2011-2012: Qatar arrives, and puts its feet in the dish
When QSI bought the club in 2011, the question of the dilapidated Parc des Princes, whose fate was already in question under the previous management, very quickly came to the fore.
In November 2011, in our columns, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi already affirmed that “the Parc des Princes is the home of PSG, but the renovation of the Park must correspond to our needs and our ambitions”.
A first intense standoff was engaged in 2012 on this issue between PSG and the city of Paris.
A renovation project is on the agenda with a view to Euro 2016, but the Qataris then want to take advantage of this momentum to carry out large-scale work and increase its capacity to the oft-repeated figure of 60. 000 seats, even if it means demolishing to rebuild, which the city excludes.
Such a project would force PSG to move to the Stade de France for at least two seasons during the renovations.
At the time, Nicolas Sarkozy even publicly pushed for PSG to settle there permanently.
At the end of these long months of discussion, it is finally the club which bends, in particular at the call of its supporters who massively support the fact that Paris does not leave its historic residence.
The massive renovation project will ultimately only be cosmetic and PSG will not need to move.
“It's positive for France and Euro 2016, positive for the city of Paris, declared Jean-Claude Blanc.
PSG is also a winner because it gives itself time to think about something ambitious, even visionary concerning the Parc des Princes.
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2015-2016: after the renovations, the expansion is back on the table
During the work, the subject gradually leaves the debate.
In our columns, the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo goes in the direction of the first wishes of the Qataris by affirming that "we need a Park with 60,000 places" and that "all the hypotheses are worked with the club" for a future project.
Behind the scenes, discussions are still taking place between the City and the club, which already wishes to become the owner of the enclosure.
PSG, in close collaboration with the architect of the stadium Roger Taillibert, who died in 2019, would even have found the solution to realize his dream of reaching 60,000 seats.
"One solution is to break the entire lower crown and redesign new steps inclined differently, then explained a specialist who worked on the file in the past.
We need to bring the stands closer to the pitch.
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2018-2022: the Paris-2024 horizon and a trailing file
When presenting its completely renovated setting in mid-2016, after three years and 75 million euros of work, PSG reaffirms its desire to expand, with the Paris 2024 Games on the horizon. In 2018, PSG hopes to although the discussions held with the city are finally leading to something concrete but, despite the positive signals given in public by the City of Paris, nothing is moving forward and PSG, for its part, is also working on its new training center.
"The Olympic prospect makes the calendar more sensitive," said Jean-François Martins, the city's sports assistant.
With the Olympics, you cannot be 3 months late on the site since you must have completed the work in 2024. " Result: the PSG cannot hope to see its project materialized before 2026, at the earliest.
This does not prevent its leaders from continuing to apply pressure to the city on this issue.
On the day of Lionel Messi's signing at PSG, in August 2021, when all eyes are on Paris, its president reaffirms that expanding the Park is an "obligation" and that the project must be carried out "as soon as possible" .
This Wednesday, in the middle of the World Cup in Qatar, he reiterated his argument.