Mbappe joined Real Madrid when his contract expired in June, bringing to a close a successful seven-year tenure with the Qatar-owned club. During that time, he scored an impressive 256 goals and became their all-time top scorer.
As a result, the French captain leaves a massive gap at PSG, so large that the club believes no single player can truly fill it.
Coach Luis Enrique will lead his team to Normandy to play Le Havre on Friday for the start of the new season of Ligue 1, with no high-profile new signing brought in to directly replace Mbappe.
Despite this, PSG has invested in players during Europe’s summer transfer window and might still pursue a top-class striker before the deadline at the end of the month.
Victor Osimhen, who previously shone in Ligue 1 with Lille and now plays for Napoli, has been linked with a transfer to the French capital. However, it remains to be seen if he would align with Luis Enrique’s preferred style of play.
At the moment, PSG’s transfer efforts are directed elsewhere. It has invested approximately 125 million euros ($132.2 million) in three players.
Nineteen-year-old Portuguese midfield talent Joao Neves, featured for his country at Euro 2024, has joined PSG from Benfica for 59.9 million euros. This amount could increase by up to 10 million euros with additional bonuses.
The defense has been improved with the addition of 22-year-old Ecuadorian center-back Willian Pacho from Eintracht Frankfurt, costing up to 45 million euros.
PSG’s first summer acquisition was 25-year-old Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, who joined from Krasnodar for about 20 million euros. He will challenge Gianluigi Donnarumma for the starting goalkeeper position.
Irreplaceable
Aside from Mbappe, the Parisians have retained the core of their team from last season and have also added teenage Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Moscardo. Corinthians signed him in January but was loaned back for an additional six months.
French wingers Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola are expected to continue their strong performances from last season. Meanwhile, there is hope that Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos, who scored 23 goals last season, will step up and help fans move on from Mbappe.
Gone are the days of bringing in veteran stars like Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos. This season, captain Marquinhos, at 30, is expected to be the oldest player in the starting lineup.
This summer, the only high-profile name to be seen with a PSG shirt and president Nasser al-Khelaifi is NBA star Kevin Durant, who has invested in the club.
Luis Enrique acknowledged in May, shortly after his team won the French Cup final against Lyon to secure a domestic double, that Kylian Mbappe is irreplaceable.”He is obviously a different player and we can’t replace him with one single player. Forget it. There is no substitute for Kylian Mbappe,” Enrique said.
“We will need to replace him with the team as a whole and with maybe four, five, or six new signings.”
PSG’s transfer activity is likely ongoing, but they will gradually ease into the new season.
PSG has kept a low profile in the transfer market and had a subdued pre-season.
Instead of a demanding summer tour to the United States or Asia, Luis Enrique has kept his squad at their training base near Paris.
They have played only two friendly matches, drawing with Austrian champions Sturm Graz away and RB Leipzig in Germany.
Luis Enrique likely saw little benefit in scheduling too many games since many of his players returned to training late after participating in Euro 2024, the Copa America, or the Olympics.
The goal is to have his team in top shape by the start of the Champions League in September when a new attacking option might be introduced.
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