During a live stream on the various social media outlets for Paris Saint-Germain, Leonardo, the capital club sporting director, answered questions from fans and other interested parties, which were made available through the hashtag #AskLeo on Twitter.
One of the first topics he spoke about is the contract extensions for some of the players on the squad whose deals are about to expire, most notably Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappé.
“We have started the extensions that we are considering, Neymar, Mbappé, Di Maria, Bernat. Draxler too. A proposal made to Neymar? There is a desire to renew it. We started. There were complicated situations. Now we have clearer ideas. Did Mbappé announce Real Madrid? The communication game exists a lot. There is a lot of politics in Spain.” Leonardo said.
“PSG will be the team for the next five years. Some teams are at the end of the cycle; others are good. I see myself with young and experienced players. Neymar and Mbappé are in the top 3, Messi and Cristiano will come out, we will try to keep them, that’s the idea. We have started a season in which we have to adapt. We play on goal closed, so no ticket, no hospitality, shops are closed.”
After some heated exchanges through the media to start the season, Leonardo clarified his relationship with manager Thomas Tuchel.
“If I support the coach? We can support and say what we think. We had a dispute with the media about the transfer window. We said we did not like him talking publicly about the transfer window. There are also internal discussions. It is the life of a club. We argue all the time, and we may not agree. We never think of changing Tuchel. We do not call any coach. These are people who talk. The club has never put a coach on the table to replace Tuchel. We have to focus on the little problems to solve. “
Finally, supporters want to see PSG make signings that will address issues that plague the squad. Leonardo touched on the transfer market’s current status due to the coronavirus pandemic as the January window is nearly a month and a half away from opening.
“We have to see what we are today after all this. I don’t want to get into the economic part. We have to calculate. We must renew and bring what will be important. We have to see how much we can invest doing a whole season behind closed doors! We lost 15 to 20% of admissions last season. There, it can be worse. But PSG have the ability to overcome the crisis well,” Leonardo said.
“The ambition of the club is evident. I think we are forgetting what was done—recruiting Cristiano? All the things that are being said around the world. How many clubs can such a player afford? PSG is in a tight circle, and we are talking about him in big operations. But today, there is no-nonsense.”
There are plenty more topics that Leonardo went into the near one hour interview that can be seen here.
🎙Leonardo répond à vos questions en direct 🔴🔵 https://t.co/oBLYbZBAUa
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) November 10, 2020
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