The name Lucas Paquetá should be familiar to you if you’re a Paris Saint-Germain supporter.
The rumor mill constantly linked the AC Milan midfielder with a move to the French capital but according to reports, the asking price for Paquetá was more than PSG was willing to spend.
Paquetá is likely to leave this summer though once the transfer window opens up and considering Leonardo, PSG’s sporting director, signed him when he held the same position at Milan, it’s possible that PSG will return for the Brazilian but this time, they may propose a swap deal instead of cash.
According to Tuttosport (via Calciomercato.com), PSG could offer Leandro Paredes in exchange for Paquetá but only if the Argentine lowers his salary expectations (currently earns €750K per month according to Transfermarkt).
For me, the deal wouldn’t be catastrophic but PSG would definitely come out on the losing end.
Paredes arrived from Zenit St. Petersburg for €40 million in January 2019 and it’s taken him a while to find his footing and while he hasn’t quite performed up to that lofty transfer fee, the 25-year-old provides something else that PSG desperately needs: toughness.
This season, Paredes has become the official bodyguard of PSG on the pitch where he has been seen defending Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappé in particular. In the second leg against Borussia Dortmund, Paredes took it upon himself to “deal with” Emre Can who he believed got away with too many harsh challenges on his teammates.
Off the pitch, we’ve seen that Paredes gets along with his teammates. He pulled a hilarious prank on Neymar that involved a fake snake and recently, his social distancing video with Angel Di Maria was a hit on social media.
In terms of Paquetá, there are a lot of unknowns with him. No one doubts his abilities but he hasn’t fit it at Milan and there’s no guarantee that things will be better if he moves to Paris.
With Paredes, PSG has a physical bodyguard who can also play in the midfield when needed as he did against Dortmund in the biggest game of the season thus far. In my opinion, this is a swap deal that Leonardo should walk away from.
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