Over the recent summer transfer window, Paris Saint-Germain was linked with multiple notable strikers, from Robert Lewandowski to Gianluca Scamacca. In the end, PSG failed to sign such a player, as football advisor Luis Campos turned his attention to bolstering other positions on the team.
According to L’Equipe‘s Loic Tanzi, Campos did have plans to bring in a striker to the club, and he made clear to Kylian Mbappe that he was going to do so. But as Campos did not end up bringing in such a talent to the club, it forced him and manager Christophe Galtier to switch up the tactical plans for the team this season, which Mbappe is “not happy” about.
“There are two things,” Tanzi said on the L’ÉQUIPE de Greg program. “The first is that compared to PSG, yes he is in a position today where he was not promised to play. He was waiting, and Luis Campos said the same thing, a striker like Olivier Giroud, like Gianluca Scamacca or Robert Lewandowski for example. A striker of this type had to come to PSG to allow Mbappe to be a little more free behind the striker.
“This was what was promised to him, with the departure of Neymar. Normally, this is what was planned in the ideal at Paris Saint-Germain. The second thing is that it’s not going to be a problem because he accepted today. He is not happy about it, but he has accepted and he will do it until the end of the season for Paris Saint-Germain.”
Galtier has called on Mbappe to be the main striker upfront in his 3-4-2-1 setup, which has Lionel Messi and Neymar positioned right behind him. Had PSG signed a keen striker and sold Neymar, then Mbappe would have then been relied on to tag along with Messi and play behind the center forward upfront.
Overall, it has been so far, so good for PSG this season, as it is still undefeated in all competitions. PSG will return to action on Oct. 1 with a Ligue 1 home fixture against OGC Nice.