MANCHESTER, England: Lionel Messi’s impending exit from Paris Saint-Germain could mark the beginning of the end of the French soccer club’s era of excess.
The Argentina great’s departure after this season has the potential to be every bit as significant as the host of superstar signings since Qatari money transformed PSG into one of the richest clubs in the world.
Barring a sudden change of heart from either side, Messi is set to leave when his current contract expires in a few weeks.
While that paves the way for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner to earn a reported $400 million a year in Saudi Arabia, it also gives PSG a chance to pivot away from a strategy that hasn’t quite worked out and turn instead to developing local talent.
Owned by Qatar Sports Investments since 2011, PSG have dominated French soccer and signed some of the biggest names in the sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Messi. But the team have yet to win European club soccer’s biggest prize, the Champions League.
If anything, PSG are slipping further away from the trophy they crave the most after back-to-back eliminations in the round of 16 over the past two seasons. Despite a roster stacked with world-class talent, the club have gone out at that stage of the competition in five of the last seven seasons and only reached the final once in their history, in 2020.
Not even the dream team of Messi, Mbappe and Neymar have been able to alter that.
While Messi’s exit makes things appear clear now, the shift in strategy to focus on young talent seems to have started last year. A state-of-the-art training center in Poissy is close to completion and will provide a base to nurture the best young players France produces.
At the heart of this new vision, however, is arguably the biggest talent of them all: Kylian Mbappe. That raises questions about the future of Neymar, with the Brazilian not appearing to fit the club’s model.
It also may explain the parting of ways with Messi.
While the recent World Cup winner’s time at PSG is ending on a sour note — he was fined and suspended for an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia — his move from Barcelona is still considered a success.
In his first season at the French club, Messi is estimated to have earned PSG a profit of about $11 million in commercial partnerships.
As a point of pride, PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi also managed to assemble an array of soccer’s biggest stars into one attack, albeit for a short time. Now comes a shift away from the “bling” to more home-grown talent.
France, after all, has produced some of the best soccer players in history, with Mbappe the latest, and PSG want to capitalize on that.
France won the World Cup in 2018 and only lost to a Messi-led Argentina on penalty kicks in last year’s final. Mbappe was the only PSG player in the France team that started in that final in Qatar.
France’s brightest young stars have headed instead to European clubs like Real Madrid (Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga), Barcelona (Ousmane Dembele, Jules Kounde) and Bayern Munich (Kingsley Coman, Dayot Upamecano).
Coman, who came through at PSG, scored when Bayern knocked his former team out of the Champions League this season.
Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku, who is expected to move to Chelsea in the offseason, was also at PSG. So was another France international, Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby.
Mbappe, who has been a long-term target for Real Madrid, appears to be on board with PSG’s plans because he signed a three-year contract with the club last May. He is certainly “bling” in soccer terms, but he also fits in perfectly with the new strategy of local youth.
There have been moves toward that this season with 17-year-old players Warren Zaire-Emery and El Chadaille Bitshiabu breaking into the first team and playing in the loss to Bayern.
The hiring of a French coach in Christophe Galtier last year was another example of the shift, though it is unclear if he will remain beyond this season with results dropping off in the second half of the campaign.
PSG still lead second-place Marseille by five points in the French league and are on course for a ninth title in the era of Qatari ownership. But it is the club’s failings in the Champions League that have been unacceptable in the face of the huge sums spent on Neymar ($219 million) and Mbappe ($190 million).
That underachievement at the highest level has fed into a general sense that PSG are a collection of individuals, rather than a cohesive team. And the focus of the collective going forward points to an acknowledgement of that.
By comparison, Manchester City, which are backed by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, have put together arguably the best team in Europe under Pep Guardiola, even if the Champions League still eludes them.
That could change this season with City in the semifinals for the third year in a row.
Messi’s departure from PSG, and maybe Neymar’s, too, could ultimately move the French club a step closer in their mission to finally win the European Cup.
PSG to shift focus following likely exit of Lionel Messi
https://arab.news/9scgg
PSG to shift focus following likely exit of Lionel Messi
- Barring a sudden change of heart from either side, Messi is set to leave when his current contract expires in a few weeks
- If anything, PSG are slipping further away from the trophy they crave the most after back-to-back eliminations in the round of 16 over the past two seasons
‘Ready for any challenge’: how Rami El-Hassan embraced being first Palestinian to coach in Saudi top flight
- Former Palestine international had a brief stint as caretaker manager of Buraidah-based side in March before returning to the role of assistant manager
AMSTERDAM: If you have ever wondered what happened to your favorite big name, bigger personality football manager, chances are they are now on the touchlines of the Saudi Pro League.
Fatih Terim, Stefano Pioli, Laurent Blanc, and Jorge Jesus are just some of the famous tacticians currently managing in the Kingdom.
While the big names grab most of the headlines, the league is now producing younger first-time managers from the region who are also making a name for themselves.
Former Palestine international Rami El-Hassan took the reins, albeit briefly, of the Buraidah-based side Al-Raed on March 9, replacing ex-Santos manager Odair Hellmann.
His appointment made history as El-Hassan became the first Palestinian to manage in the Saudi top flight. The 45-year-old’s time with the team spans seven years, six different managers, and a whopping 220 games.
A long-awaited managerial debut finally arrived on March 13, but ended with Al-Raed losing 3-1 to relegation rivals El-Fateh.
In spite of the setback, the former midfielder was positive. “It was a (good) experience and a big step in my career, and I feel ready for any challenge in the future,” El-Hassan told Arab News in an exclusive interview earlier this week.
Resiliency has been a hallmark of El-Hassan’s footballing journey. He was born in the Nahr El Bared refugee camp in Lebanon to a Palestinian family from Saffuriya, and his life has rarely been straightforward.
In spite of hardships off the pitch, El-Hassan has had a knack of being in the right place at the right time. A debut in the Lebanese top-flight in 1996 came at barely 17 years of age with one of Lebanon’s oldest clubs, Tripoli-based Riada Wal Adab.
“My school was playing a match on their training ground and their Egyptian manager was waiting for us to finish. Afterwards he and his staff came up to me, asked some questions, and offered for me to train with them, and even said they would register and sign me.”
Keen to prove himself, El-Hassan wanted to sign right away, but first had to get his father’s approval. Any distraction from the pursuit of education was out of the question, especially since El-Hassan was an exemplary student.
“I said to my father, ‘don’t worry, I can do both well. If you see at any moment I lose focus on my studies you can stop me from playing.’ I think I kept my promise to my father because I completed three years of high school and a four-year bachelor of arts degree from university.”
Two years after his league debut, a path to becoming a fully fledged international opened up when Palestine was admitted into FIFA in 1998.
Fans of vintage Levantine football might remember El-Hassan from his days playing for Salam Zaghrta. His late runs into the box and set-piece proficiency resulted in 12 goals in the 2003/04 season — good enough for third most in the league and a spot in the team of the season.
That form caught the eye of the late Alfred Riedl, who held an exploratory camp for Palestinian players based in Syria and Lebanon, which in turn led to a call-up to the Palestine national team in 2004.
El-Hassan’s time with the national team was brief — two caps, one goal — but eventful as part of a generation who still hold the record for Palestine’s biggest win in World Cup qualification (8-0 vs. Chinese Taipei).
A year after his national team debut, El-Hassan made the difficult choice to end his footballing career early and move to Spain in search of a better future. His passion for football served as the perfect conduit for learning a new language and adapting to a different culture.
“Learning the Spanish language was the first objective in order to make my life easier,” he said.
“When I was going to the language center, I would buy the two most famous sports newspapers, Marca and AS, and I had a small pocket dictionary and I would read the football news.”
Living with his uncle and Spanish-born cousins for his first two years in Madrid further eased his adaptation.
El-Hassan also began coaching neighborhood teams in the Spanish capital while pursuing his UEFA B-license. This led to a brief stint in Jeddah with Al-Ahli under Vitor Pereira before joining Atletico Madrid in 2015.
Having gained a UEFA pro license, a return to the Kingdom beckoned in 2018. The former midfielder’s motives were two-fold.
“I am the oldest son and I had a responsibility to my family back in Lebanon who lost everything after two wars. I also have three daughters, two born in Madrid and one born in the Kingdom, and thought it would be good for them to grow up around the language and culture of their parents.”
There were other offers from the Arab world, but El-Hassan recalls: “It was my destiny; it was written to come to Al-Raed.”
His brief tenure as Al-Raed boss came to an end over the international break with the club bringing in their seventh manager, Kresimir Rezic, in as many years. The Madrileno was back to his role of assistant manager for the team’s narrow 1-0 loss to Al-Qadsia in the semifinal of the King’s Cup.
Reflecting on his time in charge, El-Hassan was full of praise for his players, suggesting they deserved more in their 3-1 defeat. He was also happy to see his former international teammate Ehab Abu Jazar lead Palestine to their first win against Iraq over the international break.
As for his coaching future, El-Hassan is keeping the door open: “I feel I have potential and the capacity to go further.”
No ‘killer instinct’ as Man Utd, Man City play out derby stalemate
- City’s hopes of Champions League qualification remain in the balance
- A point leaves United languishing down in 13th
MANCHESTER: Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said his side must improve “everywhere” after a dismal derby against Manchester City ended 0-0 on Sunday.
City’s hopes of Champions League qualification remain in the balance as they remain fifth in the Premier League, which should be enough to reach next season’s Champions League.
However, Pep Guardiola’s men are just two points above Newcastle, who have two games in hand on City.
A point leaves United languishing down in 13th, but they had the better of a game limited in chances as they missed out on a first league double over City since 2019/20.
“We have so many aspects to improve. Everywhere we need to improve in every aspect: build up, transition, decisions in the final third,” said Amorim.
“Every player can improve, they are here because they showed something at other clubs. They have the quality, but we are still a team that plays on transition, we need to spend more time in final third to have more opportunities.”
Never in the Premier League era have neither City or United finished in the top four but that record is under severe threat in the coming months.
A contest devoid of quality, intensity or fight summed up a dreadful season for both sides of the Manchester divide.
After a record four consecutive league titles, City’s form has fallen off a cliff to leave them at risk of not making the top four for the first time since 2009/10.
United’s only chance of Champions League qualification is by winning the Europa League as they are set for their worst ever Premier League finish.
The Red Devils have shown flashes of improvement this week but also failed to score in their 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday to underline their problem in front of goal.
“We just need to have a bit more of a killer instinct,” said United captain Bruno Fernandes. “In the first half we had to many touches when we just needed one. We were patient, very organized but the killer instinct was missing today.”
Kevin De Bruyne started just days after announcing this will be his final season at City.
But the Belgian’s performance was the latest example that he is now a shadow of the figure Guardiola said will be remembered as one of the Premier League’s all-time greats.
City had the majority of the ball, but United were the more threatening side on the counter-attack in a pedestrian first half.
“We were not good enough to punish them or hurt them a little bit more than what happened,” said Guardiola. “We take the point. It would be better to win but still we are there.”
Phil Foden had the game’s best chance just seconds after half-time, but fluffed his lines with only Andre Onana to beat.
The spectacle did marginally improve after the break as Omar Marmoush’s powerful effort from a corner stung the palms of Onana.
Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount’s introduction off the bench added more thrust to the United attack in the final 20 minutes.
Both had a chance to win it when Zirkzee’s shot was clawed away by Ederson and Rico Lewis did well to get in the way of Mount’s follow-up effort.
There were smiles during a warm embrace between Guardiola and Amorim at full-time but those pleasantries disguised the fact that neither man can be happy with the state of their sides after a disappointing campaign.
Fulham end Liverpool unbeaten league run to delay title party
- Arne Slot’s men were unbeaten in 26 league games and looked set to take another step toward the title
- Liverpool still enjoy an 11-point lead at the top with seven games remaining
LONDON: Liverpool slumped to just their second Premier League defeat of the season as Fulham struck three times in 14 first-half minutes to boost their own European ambitions with a 3-2 win on Sunday.
Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Everton on Saturday left Liverpool needing just 11 points from their final eight games to secure a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.
Arne Slot’s men were unbeaten in 26 league games and looked set to take another step toward the title when Alexis Mac Allister’s stunning strike opened the scoring.
But poor defending allowed Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz to turn the game around for Fulham.
Liverpool still enjoy an 11-point lead at the top with seven games remaining.
Victory lifts Fulham to eighth and within three points of the top five, which is almost certain to be enough for a place in next season’s Champions League.
Despite a stellar first season under Slot, Liverpool have shown signs of slowing down in recent weeks and came off the rails in west London.
After a Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain and League Cup final defeat to Newcastle, Liverpool edged out Everton 1-0 in a feisty Merseyside derby on Wednesday to get back to winning ways.
But the Reds appear to be running out of steam after challenging in four competitions for most of the season.
Mac Allister’s blistering long range strike into the top corner after 14 minutes gave Liverpool the dream start.
The Reds wilted in the Craven Cottage sunshine, with a series of individual errors leading to Fulham’s three quickfire goals.
Curtis Jones, deputising out of position at right-back, failed to control Andreas Pereira’s cross and the ball fell kindly for Sessegnon to fire home his third goal in five games.
Andy Robertson then had a nightmare for Fulham’s second.
The Scotland captain gave away possession deep in Liverpool territory, then could only head an attempted clearance into the path of Iwobi, whose shot deflected in off Robertson.
The normally unflappable Virgil van Dijk was at fault for the third as Muniz outmuscled the Dutchman and produced a brilliant low finish under Caoimhin Kelleher.
Diogo Jota was denied by Bernd Leno early in the second half with a big chance to reduce Liverpool’s deficit.
It was not until Slot turned to his bench to introduce Luis Diaz, Connor Bradley and Harvey Elliott that the visitors sparked into life.
Mohamed Salah has not scored in his last four league games and wasted a big chance to break that drought when he turned Diaz’s inviting cross over.
Bradley teed up Diaz to find the bottom corner and set up a grandstand finish 18 minutes from time.
Elliott hit the bar against his former club as Liverpool pushed for an equalizer.
Fulham, though, stayed strong to see out six minutes of added time and delay Liverpool’s title celebrations.
Barcelona held by Betis, miss chance to extend league lead
- The draw moves Hansi Flick’s Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday
- Gavi: If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it’s football
BARCELONA: Barcelona spurned the chance to extend their lead at the top of the LaLiga standings when they were held at home 1-1 by Real Betis on Saturday, with visiting defender Natan canceling out Gavi’s early opener.
The draw moves Hansi Flick’s Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday, while Betis climbed to fifth on 48 points.
The hosts had been given further motivation by Real’s shocking loss and had a great start when Gavi opened the scoring from close range, brilliantly assisted by Ferran Torres in a great team play seven minutes after kickoff.
However, Natan headed the equalizer from a corner in the 17th minute and though they dominated, Barca could not find a way past 38-year-old goalkeeper Adrian who made a string of saves later on to frustrate the hosts.
Adrian’s brilliant performance started even before Barca opened the scoring, when he palmed away Pedri’s strike from inside the box, but there was nothing he could do to keep Gavi from scoring moments later.
Barca kept up the pressure after taking the lead but Betis equalized from a Giovanni lo Celso corner which Natan jumped higher than defender Ronald Araujo to meet and head into the back of the net.
Adrian came to the rescue again as he made a stunning one-handed save from a Lamine Yamal curling strike from inside the box in the 38th minute.
Coach Hansi Flick subbed on Raphinha in the second half and Barca came back even stronger, dominating more than 75 percent of possession but wasting too many chances.
The Brazilian forward was a constant menace and missed with a curling strike from the edge of the box, with Adrian making two great efforts to deny a Jules Kounde strike in the 55th minute and a Fermin Lopez shot in the 85th.
“If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it’s football,” Gavi told Movistar Plus.
“We’re bitter about the result, because we couldn’t take advantage of the chances we had throughout the match, but we have to accept it and move on.”
Trinity Rodman scores early in return from 8-month injury absence, and US women beat Brazil 2-0
- Played before a lively crowd of 32,303, this game was billed as the first professional women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, the nearly 5-year-old home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams
- The Americans had been 15-0-2 since Hayes took over in June 2024
INGLEWOOD, California: Trinity Rodman drilled her shot into the bottom corner of Brazil’s net and promptly got mobbed by her teammates. She broke away from the goal celebration and grabbed her lower back, pretending to seize up with pain — only to stand up tall and laugh while flipping her pink hair over both shoulders.
After eight months of recovery from back woes, Rodman is feeling close to her old self again. The US women’s national team also showed signs of their top form while coolly handling another world power.
Rodman scored in the fifth minute of her return from a lengthy injury absence, and the Americans beat Brazil 2-0 Saturday in a friendly rematch of the Paris Olympics gold-medal match.
Rodman, the 22-year-old star and Orange County native, delivered her 11th goal for the US by finishing off a brilliant run by Alyssa Thompson. Rodman hadn’t played for the US since the Olympic final due to persistent back problems — hence her cheeky celebration.
“The medical staff was freaking out, but I felt like I had to do it,” Rodman said with a grin. “It felt so good to be in this atmosphere again, to be with the team. The stadium was crazy.”
Phallon Tullis-Joyce made six saves while keeping a clean sheet in the 28-year-old goalkeeper’s US debut. Captain Lindsey Heaps also scored a second-half penalty goal in the first of two California friendlies in four days against Brazil, who lost 2-1 in Paris as the US secured its fifth Olympic gold medal.
“I think it shows where this group is going,” Heaps said. “Our group is just getting better and better, and there’s not massive gaps between players. These young guns coming in ... it’s such a cool thing for us to see.”
Played before a lively crowd of 32,303, this game was billed as the first professional women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, the nearly 5-year-old home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.
The teams meet again Tuesday night in San Jose, California.
In their most recent outing in late February, the US women took their first defeat of coach Emma Hayes’ tenure, falling 2-1 to Japan in San Diego in the final of the SheBelieves Cup. The Americans had been 15-0-2 since Hayes took over in June 2024.
Back at it in SoFi, the Americans struck early — and with style.
Studio City native Thompson got a midfield touch and made an impressive run through Brazil’s formation, sending one defender to the grass in confusion before pushing a perfect pass to Rodman for her cool finish.
Rodman’s celebration was a treat as well — for most observers, anyway.
“Except I didn’t think she was pretending,” Hayes said with a grimace. “I will have a word with her, because that was like a ‘cry wolf’ moment. I turned to the physios and said, ‘Her back’s hurting,’ instantly. And then I realized she was tricking us.”
Later in the first half, Rodman appeared to be dealing with actual pain, which she blamed on a charley horse from getting kneed by an opponent. She still played 16 minutes into the second half before coming off.
The US was awarded a penalty when substitute Lily Johannes was tripped in the box. Heaps hammered it home for her 37th goal.
The depleted US defense had several rough moments in front of goal. The Seleção carried significant stretches of play and forced Tullis-Joyce to work hard, but the Long Island native who plays for Manchester United handled every chance capably.
Tullis-Joyce is competing for the first-string job after the retirement of Alyssa Naeher. Her parents and brother attended the match, but they didn’t know she would start until the lineup was announced an hour before kickoff.
“I love a clean sheet,” Tullis-Joyce said. “Happy for my teammates as well. That back line, they really gritted it out. Everybody was putting their body on the line. Credit to Brazil.”
The Americans will be without starting center backs Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson for the near future. They were replaced by Emily Sonnett and Tara McKeown, who only broke into the US lineup earlier this year.
Two weeks after the Mexico men’s team won the CONCACAF Nations Cup at SoFi, this friendly match was another early chapter in a series of upcoming soccer events in the Los Angeles area, including the 2026 men’s World Cup, the Los Angeles Olympics tournament and probably the Women’s World Cup in 2031.
