By dint of petrodollars, PSG is planning in the offices its team for the 23-24 season. While Lionel Messi decides whether or not to accept the one-year extension of his contract or leave for another destination as a free agent, the French have set their sights on a player to complement Kylian Mbappé, the top French star of the squad, who has already said he will stay in the City of Light to win trophies. The name that most seduces Luis Campos, the club’s sporting director, is that of Harry Kane, all-time top scorer of the English national team and under contract until June 2024 with Tottenham in the Premier League.
French daily Le Parisien reports that Kane could be the “bomb signing” of the Parisian club, which is managed by Qatari capital. His price? According to Daniel Levy, the president of Spurs, Kane is not worth less than 100 million euros. Of course, the good relations between the London executive and his PSG counterpart, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, could lower the cost of the operation. Or at least put it on track: Levy has a reputation as an ironclad negotiator. “Harry Kane can win trophies with Spurs, absolutely. But being a legend is also important. I hope one day there will be a statue of Kane outside our stadium,” Levy said on Wednesday. He added, extolling his 29-year-old team captain: “He’s the club’s all-time leading scorer. He is making history.”
The English striker, who has been embroiled in market rumors for years due to the scarcity of titles with his team, has already declared that his idea is to continue in the Premier League. In this sense, specialized portals speculated Manchester United as his most likely destination. Even more, since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and the departure of Mason Greenwood. The Red Devils needed a center forward, a “penalty area killer”. While Kane filled all the technical secretariat’s boxes, the club opted for a low-cost solution in the last transfer window: it signed Dutchman Wout Weghorst, famous for Lionel Messi’s “Andá p’allá, bobo” in Qatar 2022. He is on loan from Burnley, who have just returned to the top flight, until the end of the season.
Kane’s eventual arrival at the City of Light would make him PSG’s top penalty area reference. A sort of “target man” for all the center backs and wingers. Thus, with the central defenders busy marking him, the coaches understand that Mbappé could play more freely. The scheme resembles what Didier Deschamps is trying with the French national team. The starting 9 is Olivier Giroud, a 36-year-old veteran who used to play in the Premier League (Chelsea and Arsenal were his clubs). He works like a magnet for the central defenders. And Mbappé takes advantage of it.
In addition to defining who stays and who doesn’t, Campos’ work at PSG also covers the next coach. Christophe Galtier, the team’s current coach, was his choice. The two had coincided at Nice, with success. Campos then recommended Galtier to coach PSG’s galacticos. Al-Khelaifi agreed. Judging by the results (eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16 and from the Coupe de France at the same stage), the choice was not as successful as expected. Therefore, and still according to the French press, the name chosen to succeed the Frenchman would be a heavyweight: the Portuguese Jose Mourinho.
RMC Sport recalls that Campos and Mourinho coincided 10 years ago at Rea Madrid, and that the relationship between the two is fluid. While the Portuguese has a good season in Rome (fighting to enter the next Champions League and is in the quarterfinals of the Conference League. The star signing for this season in the Italian capital was the Argentine Paulo Dybala, and he became a success. Although he has a proposal from Saudi Arabia to return to coach Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr, the idea of the Roman leaders is to keep him in the Italian capital. It will be a long and winding negotiation.
RMC Sport adds that the Portuguese would be open to negotiate with PSG, and that he already knows of the French interest in his services. In the meantime, the coach has a defender with a history: former footballer Christophe Dugarry. Habitual TV panelist, the former player validated the arrival of The Special One at the Parc des Princes: “When you tried Tuchel, Emery, Laurent Blanc, Pochettino, Galtier and it didn’t work out, you have to go crazy. The guy (for Mourinho) is a great coach, he succeeded and won titles. There are players who came to the fore with Mourinho. There are many players who can speak badly of him just as many people who can speak well of him,” he reflected. The race to succeed Galtier has just begun.