Project PSG

Jul 27, 2012 - Siddharth Vishwanathan

Tags:

football

The French League has gone through a renaissance over the past few years. Emerging out of an era in which Lyon boasted seven consecutive titles, Ligue 1 has had four different champions in as many years with Montpellier winning last season.

However such parity might be coming to a sharp dead end as Paris Saint-Germain look to blow away their competition with their financial clout.

The Parisian club’s purchases of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan has brought worldwide attention to the project which was started last year with the purchase of the club by the Qatar Investment Authority.

The new owners moved quickly in bringing Javier Pastore to the club last summer. And later they hired Carlo Ancelloti as the manager.

As well as the aforementioned players, PSG have added Argentine winger Ezequiel Lavezzi, who has shown exceptional form for Napoli over the past two years and if rumours are to be believed, the club haven’t finished with their shopping spree which makes the prospect of coming up against this team in any competition a daunting task next season.

So what does this mean for Ligue 1? On the looks of it PSG seem nailed on to go and win their first league trophy since 1994.

Last season’s champions Montpellier may provide competition but they have lost their star striker and League top scorer Oliver Giroud to Arsenal.

Similarity, Lille (2010/11 Champions) have lost their star player in Eden Hazard to Chelsea. Lyon are struggling rejuvenate their side and Marseille haven’t yet bought any player this summer.

Ancelloti will also have one eye upon the Champions League as well. They have never won this competition, even going back to the days of the European Cup and it would be a big ask to get his squad gelled enough to compete for the top prize this season. However, one thing is certain, teams will no longer be looking forward to a day out in Paris.

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