With the multiple signings that he’s brought in, Leonardo has made it clear during his two stints as the Paris Saint-Germain sporting director that his preference is to bring in players from Serie A.
Whether it’s Edinson Cavani, Thiago Silva, Marco Verratti, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Mauro Icardi, and others, all of the significant signings since 2011 have come from Italy. Leonardo has signed players from other countries, but make no mistake about, Italy is his ideal destination to poach talent.
The Brazilian is looking at adding a midfielder over the summer, and his number one target remains Lazio’s Sergej Milinković-Savić. Although the Serbia international is an excellent talent, one French journalist believes that it’s time for Leonardo to expand his horizons when searching for talent.
Sébastien Tarrago was on L’Equipe du Soir (via Canal Supporters), where he threw criticism towards the capital club sporting director.
“Huge respect for what Leonardo achieves, but we cannot hide the fact that when he arrived in 2011 at PSG, he did what he wanted with millions and millions. There was everything to do. You replaced Gameiro with Ibrahimovic. Today is harder,” Tarrago said.
“Last summer, his return was very positive. There was still the Neymar soap opera to manage. This is another story. He must find good deals. It would be good if it broadened his scope and that it was not concentrated solely on the Italian market.”
Players from leagues around Europe are currently in the PSG squad, but when push comes to shove, Leonardo often goes back to what he’s comfortable with and that’s buying players in Italy.
We’ll see if this summer is any different.
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