PSG werecrowned Ligue 1 champion (for the tenth time in its history) but once again was unable to achieve its main objective. Winning the Champions League. PSG signed big-name players this season, including Lionel Messi, in order to win the cup but were knocked out in the round of 16.
In addition, the team’s performance was not good throughout the entire season. Mauricio Pochettino was unable to make a star-studded team shine. PSG had losses of 224.3 million euros last season, with the main objective not fulfilled and the team’s poor performance, several changes are expected for the 2022-2023 season.
Furthermore, as reported by L’Equipe, the directors are planning to reorganize the squad by freeing up wage space and recouping money by selling some of the team’s key players. Rumors claim that Julian Draxler, Leandro Paredes, Layvin Kurzawa, Thilo Kehrer, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Ramos, and Neymar will leave the club. Also, one of the changes expected for next season is the hiring of a new coach.
Who will be Mauricio Pochettino’s successor?
In France, the departure of Mauricio Pochettino as coach of the team is taken for granted. The information was reported by Le Parisien, which added that the Argentine will receive a €15 million compensation, as his contract runs until June 2023.
For its part, L’Equipe released an extensive list of 10 candidates, with prominent names such as Zinedine Zidane, Massimiliano Allegri, Antonio Conte, and Diego Simeone. About Zidane, they said: “He has everything to please PSG. His ability to manage egos, his career, and his role as an ambassador for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid make him a natural candidate.”
What is certain is that French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet admitted he would not be surprised to see Zinedine Zidane take up the PSG job in the near future.
“You have to be careful what you say. Zidane has shown Madrid that he has qualities that were barely imaginable,” the FFF chief explained to L’Equipe when asked if Zizou could be considered as a successor to Didier Deschamps in the France post. “Do you see me saying today: ‘Is it Zidane who will replace Deschamps?’ We’ll see. Zidane might take on PSG. For the France team, you have to be free”.
Zidane has been out of the game since bringing his second spell on the bench at Real Madrid to a close at the end of the 2020-21 season. But with three Champions League winner’s medals as a coach to his name, the Frenchman continually finds himself linked to some of soccer’s top jobs.
