While some called Paris Saint-Germain “losers” after the close of last summer’s transfer window, it turns out that those recruits have been vital for manager Thomas Tuchel.
As reported by Culture PSG, five players who arrived last summer are among the top 12 most used players this season. In the 3-1 win over Montpellier HSC in December, Tanguy Kouassi became the 30th player to play for PSG this season, which is a true testament to the quality of depth within the squad.
The reason why so many newcomers have had to step up early in their PSG career is because of injuries to so many other players. For example, Mauro Icardi had to fill the void left by Edinson Cavani and Pablo Sarabia played significant minutes when Kylian Mbappé went down for about a month. Keylor Navas was the starting goalkeeper from day one so he has racked up plenty of minutes this season.
In fact, every summer signing has played so far this season except for 19-year-old Mitchel Bakker:
1. Keylor Navas: 1620 minutes
2. Abdou Diallo: 1326
3. Pablo Sarabia: 1299 minutes
4. Idrissa Gueye: 1240 minutes
5. Mauro Icardi: 1163 minutes
6. Ander Herrera: 613 minutes
7. Sergio Rico: 270 minutes
8. Marcin Bulka: 90 minutes
9. Mitchel Bakker: 0 minutes
Here are how the newcomers stack up minutes-wise against their teammates who have called Paris home for a number of seasons.
1. Angel Di Maria: 1856 minutes
2. Marquinhos: 1824 minutes
3. Thiago Silva: 1747 minutes
4. Juan Bernat: 1706 minutes
5. Keylor Navas: 1620 minutes
6. Marco Verratti: 1536 minutes
7. Abdou Diallo: 1326 minutes
8. Kylian Mbappé: 1305 minutes
9. Pablo Sarabia: 1299 minutes
10. Idrissa Gueye: 1240 minutes
11. Thomas Meunier: 1233 minutes
12. Mauro Icardi: 1163 minutes
This revelation is a departure from what we saw towards the end of last season where Tuchel was basically pulling fans out of the stands to fill his squad. The summer transfer window was all about adding quality depth and you have to say Leonardo did just that after returning to the capital club as sporting director.
Paris Saint-Germain is busy training for an astonishing amount of fixtures as the club is competing in four competitions. PSG kicks off again for the first time in 2020 this Sunday against ESA Linas-Montlhér in the Coupe de France.
There could be some activity in the January transfer window—both additions and subtractions—but if not, Leonardo has to be pleased with the business he’s done so far and Tuchel finally has a full squad at his disposal.
There can be no excuses and the stakes couldn’t be higher especially when it comes to the UEFA Champions League.
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