Former PSG Midfielder Claims Some Players and Fans Prefer the Pre-QSI Version of the Club

Former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, Jérémy Clément, recently spoke to SoFoot where he reflected on his career, which included a four-year stint in the French capital where he made 192 appearances for the club.

The French outlet asked a variety of questions, but there was one answer that stood out to me. Clément played for PSG (2007-2011) under two ownership groups, going from Canal+ and Colony Capital to Qatar Sports Investment in 2011.

Although the squad Clément was apart of didn’t have the superstars of today nor the financial muscle, the 35-year-old says that club alumni and supporters prefer their era of PSG football.

Furthermore, Clément adds that the fanbase was able to relate to the players more during his time at the Parc des Princes. There was that human connection from the fans and players.

Whether that opinion represents the majority or minority of the fanbase is up for debate.

This piece won’t include the entire interview but will consist of all PSG centric questions and answers. We encourage you to read the full interview here.

So Foot: However, you will spend four restless seasons there.

Clément: Tumultuous. (Laughs.)But it is Paris, the club of the capital and its excesses, a lot of media pressure and a less benevolent atmosphere than that which I had known in Lyon. Sportingly, it is incomprehensible, but we alternated the good courses in cups and the difficult seasons in Ligue 1 …

It’s funny, I was talking about it with Édouard Cissé recently: there are club alumni and supporters who tell us that they preferred our time to today. I answer them each time: “You laugh, you win everything, your players are geniuses …” But even if the seasons were hard and the players less good, we identified more easily with us. Relations were more human. In any case, this passage to Paris remains a superb experience. I don’t think we were missing much, but there is so much uncertainty in football that it is difficult to analyze. For a post returning or leaving during the first match of a season, the life of a group will be completely different.

So Foot: What’s your best memory?

Clement: The chance to have played two seasons alongside Claude Makélélé. Shortly before, he played alongside Zidane and Beckham. So it was incredible for me to form a duet with one of the best players in the world at my post, he brought me a lot.

Want more PSG? Visit the PSG Talk Podcast Network page and subscribe to PSG TalkingThe 1970, and 24th & Parc.

Tags Claude Makélélé Jérémy Clément
Follow Us