The narrative around Paris Saint-Germain heading into the 2024-25 season will likely revolve around Kylian Mbappé’s departure and how that will impact the club. While there’s no doubt his absence will force PSG to play a different style, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering the stacked midfield.
Over the past few transfer windows, Luis Campos, PSG’s football advisor, has assembled a midfield that will develop into one of the best in Europe. Many of the best betting sites may not have PSG as a favorite to win the UEFA Champions League, but just like last year, Les Parisiens could surprise and make a run to the semi-final and potentially the final.
Let’s start with the youngest member of the PSG midfield, Warren Zaïre-Emery. The 18-year-old was called up to the France national team for UEFA Euro 2024 and is poised to continue developing under manager Luis Enrique. What’s most impressive about Zaïre-Emery is his physicality as defenders seem to bounce off of him when he shields the ball. He scored a crucial goal for PSG against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last season, which speaks to his ability to step up in big moments.
Alongside WZE is Vitinha, who was outstanding for Portugal at Euro 2024. Other than Mbappé, Vitinha was PSG’s best player last season, and you could argue that he is PSG’s best player heading into this season. His technical ability on the ball is world-class, and he’s not afraid to fire a shot on goal from a distance, either. If PSG is to reach the Champions League final, it will be because Vitinha has taken his game to another level.
Fabian Ruiz is one player who is sometimes forgotten about at PSG, but this summer at Euro 2024, Ruiz was one of the top performers for the eventual champions, Spain. If he can take that momentum into next season with PSG, I don’t see any reason why the club can’t have repeat success.
And then there’s the player, all reports indicate, who will join PSG this summer. João Neves is expected to leave Benfica and join PSG to bolster their midfield further. Neves is an exceptional talent. At 19 years old, he can walk into many top clubs around Europe. He is great at maintaining possession and sparking the attack. Luis Enrique has proven to be able to develop young stars and PSG supporters are excited about his next step.
With such an impressive midfield in place, PSG’s attacking players will be eager to get on the pitch and score goals from the chances they create.
