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LIGUE 1 | PSG

PSG's numbers don't add up

In June, Paris Saint-Germain hoped to bring in 180 million euros from selling players to make up for their losses but they are nowhere near that figure.

Update:
PSG's numbers don't add up

The summer transfer window closed last night and PSG raised a total of just nine million euros from the transfers of Mitchel Bakker (to Bayer Leverkusen) and Alphonse Aréola (who joined West Ham). After having spent 76 million euros on Achraf Hakimi and Danilo, the Ligue 1 club has ended with a deficit of 67 million euros - a figure which is a long way off the estimate which Leonardo set for sales back in June to make up for the losses the club sustained during the pandemic.

PSG's projected financial data

In June, PSG's Director of Sports sent a dossier to the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), the organization responsible for monitoring and overseeing the accounts of all of the clubs in Ligue 1, outlining the club's projected income and expenditure. That dossier indicated that they were aiming to raise 180 million euros from selling players during the tax year, which ends in July 2022. However, L’Équipe and other French media outlets highlighted the fact that PSG would not be able to sign any players without first selling a substantial number of players. Selling players proved much harder than Leonardo had bargained for.

The DNCG will not force a club to sell if it can guarantee that it is solvent and injects public money to cover any losses (PSG have no problem showing that it is solvent); but if one thing has characterised the organisation in recent years, it is the severity with which it has come down on a number of French clubs when handing out fines. Only yesterday, Olympique Marseille were not able to sign Amine Harit without first selling a number of players as to not overstep their limit in the club's accounts from buying and selling players plus keeping inside payroll limits.

Huge squad

As it stands, PSG, who are not obliged to sell players to raise 180 million euros, but do want to make up for the losses of over 200 million euros which the club racked up over the course of the pandemic, have a total of 35 players on their books if you include the goalkeepers. A lot of players will be left out of the list which must be submitted to UEFA by Thursday and in comparison to other clubs, PSG's squad is seriously overstaffed. Nevertheless, they count on one of the best squads in the history of the game and are the odds-on favourites to win this year's Champions League.