A disappointing 2016-17 season ended on a small positive for Paris Saint-Germain with a record 11th Coupe de France success on May 27 at Stade de France.
Following that triumph, 14 squad members then went off for international duty — Jean-Kevin Augustin and Christopher Nkunku were already in South Korea for the FIFA under-20 World Cup — before finally getting a break.
A few players picked up injuries while with their national teams, notably Edinson Cavani and Marco Verratti, so they will report back for preseason training ahead of the 2017-18 term a little earlier than expected. However, it is only the non-internationals who will report back for duty on July 4 in Paris with coach Unai Emery.
At present, Les Parisiens will spend 10 days together in the French capital before flying to the U.S. for the International Champions Cup (ICC). PSG change camp every year and this time around they will be based in Florida, with matches planned against AS Roma in Detroit (July 19), Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur (July 22) and Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus (July 26).
After that, Emery and his men will travel to Tangier in Morocco for the Trophee des Champions (TdC) against AS Monaco on July 29 with the Ligue 1 season expected to start on the first weekend of August — fixtures to be confirmed on June 15.
Fixtures
July 19: Roma vs. PSG (ICC, Detroit, Michigan)
July 22: Spurs vs. PSG (ICC, Orlando, Florida)
July 26: PSG vs. Juventus (ICC, Miami Gardens, Florida)
July 29: Monaco vs. PSG (TdC, Tangier, Morocco)
Total matches: Four
Total miles travelled: 12,701 (estimated)
– Paris to Miami: 4,572 miles
– Miami to Detroit round-trip: 2,772 miles
– Miami to Tangier: 4,363 miles
– Tangier to Paris: 994 miles
Uncertainties
It is unclear whether PSG will try to use a few days before travelling to the U.S. for a small, intensive training camp. This is something they have done in the past in Austria and they faced West Bromwich Albion before last summer’s ICC and TdC.
The 2017-18 Ligue 1 fixture list will be revealed on June 15 and PSG will discover who they will face in their first season opener since the 2012-13 campaign where they are not defending champions.
Ins and outs
After a season of massive underachievement, PSG’s Qatari owners have acted by bringing in former FC Porto transfer guru Antero Henrique to replace Olivier Letang as sporting director and parting company with director of football Patrick Kluivert.
Although no major moves have been made yet, the French giants are expected to be extremely busy in this summer’s transfer window with Emery’s squad in need of reshaping. Before thinking about bringing in any new talent, Henrique must convince a number of the capital club’s current star names, such as Marco Verratti, Adrien Rabiot and Marquinhos, that their futures lie in Paris and not elsewhere.
Already signed:
N/A
Major players linked with arrival:
– Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, FW: Borussia Dortmund, €70m
– Jean Michael Seri, MF: OGC Nice, €40m
– Gianluigi Donnarumma, GK: AC Milan, €70m
– Jose Luis Gaya, DF: Valencia, €20m
– Pepe, DF: Real Madrid, free
Already left:
– Maxwell, DF: contract ended, retired (expected to take role as assistant sporting director)
Possible departures:
– Marco Verratti, MF: Barcelona, Juventus: €100m+
– Marquinhos, DF: Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea: €70m (PSG trying to extend contract)
– Angel Di Maria, FW: Inter Milan, Juventus: €50m
– Blaise Matuidi, MF: Juventus, Manchester United: €30m (has PSG contract extension offer)
– Adrien Rabiot, MF: Liverpool: €40m (PSG trying to extend contract)
– Lucas Moura, FW: Liverpool, Manchester United: €40m
– Serge Aurier, DF: Barcelona, AC Milan, Manchester City, Spurs: €20m (has PSG contract extension offer)
– Kevin Trapp, GK: Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg: €20m
– Alphonse Areola, GK: Valencia, Chelsea: €20m
– Hatem Ben Arfa, FW: Nice: €10m – Grzegorz Krychowiak, MF: AC and Inter Milan: €20m
– Jese Rodriguez, FW: UD Las Palmas: loan
– Salvatore Sirigu, GK: Torino: €5m
– Jean-Kevin Augustin, FW: Borussia Dortmund: €10m
– Jonathan Ikone, FW: Expected to rejoin Montpellier HSC on loan for full season
– Youssouf Sabaly, DF: Girondins de Bordeaux: €5m
– Alec Georgen, DF: promised loan move as part of recent contract extension
– Lorenzo Callegari, MF: expected to sign new contract before being loaned out
Youngsters
Emery will be able to run the rule over a few youth academy graduates this summer but it looks likely that a few will be on the move already. Augustin has failed to convince the Spaniard, while Ikone is expected to return to Montpellier for a full season and Georgen and Callegari are most likely to acquire first team experience elsewhere.
Returning from loan:
– Jese Rodriguez, FW: Las Palmas
– Salvatore Sirigu, GK: Osasuna
– Jonathan Ikone, FW: Montpellier
– Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, FW: Pescara
– Youssouf Sabaly, DF: Bordeaux
– Romain Habran, MF: Boulogne
– Gustavo Hebling, MF: PEC Zwolle
PSG’s youngsters regularly impress in preseason but very rarely are they allowed the carry that form into the new campaign. The capital club’s youth academy graduates usually do more than just fill in the gaps while the senior international stars are still on holiday but then find themselves pushed aside when the big boys return.
However, with no major international tournaments this summer, most senior figures will be back among the fold by the time the squad travel to the U.S.
Possible youth-teamers to travel to the US:
– Alec Georgen, DF, 18 years old
– Lorenzo Callegari, MF, 19
– Remy Descamps, GK, 20
– Odsonne Edouard, FW, 19
– Yohan Demoncy, DF, 21
– Gaetan Robail, MF, 23
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