The winners of French Ligue 1 next year will be PSG. If you tell me that with supreme confidence, I would not be amazed at all. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of the many recruits PSG have bought this summer, would be enough to ensure that PSG win the league next season.
If you look at the starting eleven of PSG, just some of the names; Ezequiel Lavezzi, Javier Pastore, Jeremy Menez and, of course, the superstar – Zlatan Ibrahimovic. And those are backed with the defence of Alex and Thiago Silva. Formidable, one would say. Frankly, these names are terrifying. And more so if you are a French League team. Lille and Montpellier have been pick-pocketed of their best players. Lyon are no longer the force they were. And Marseille, regardless of the promise they might show in the league, are just quite not capable of winning it. The new recruits at PSG are so strong that they would run over most of the teams in the French league.
The big spending by PSG certainly attracts comparisons to Manchester City and Chelsea. While Manchester City spent fortunes over buying players last season, all they ended up winning was one trophy. Blasted out of the Champions League group stages followed by failure in the Europa League against Sporting Lisbon. After enormous spending by Chelsea, and changing managers like baby-diapers, it took them eight years to win the Champions League. Of course, the Champions League is the most coveted prize and now a debate ensues about the best way to win it. Spending big? Or forming a team like Barcelona, who would run over you and beat you 5-0 on their brightest day? This inevitably draws our attention to what PSG might bring to the European stage. They would surely succeed in their domestic league, but what about Europe? Does big money spending guarantee success at the European stage? Would the Qatar Investment stick along if it takes PSG as long as Chelsea?