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About a year ago, Paris Saint-Germain made headlines all around the world with their acquisition of Neymar from Barcelona for a world-record, blockbuster €222 million fee. While football fans across the globe were left shocked and scratching their heads at this news, the capital club announced a loan move for the world's best teenage footballer, French starlet Kylian Mbappe, soon after.
A year later, however, even the most optimistic of PSG fans will have slightly uneasy looks on their faces. Yet another season has gone by without European glory, and Thomas Tuchel has been hired to replace Unai Emery. Neymar continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid, while Mbappe is rumored to be on City's radar.
Most disconcerting, for PSG fans however, would be the investigation opened by UEFA into the club's transfer dealings and their compliance - or lack thereof - with the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. PSG will find out this week if they'll be hit with a sanction from UEFA and now know how much they need to raise in sales this summer - at least €90 million.
While it is unlikely that they will need to sell Neymar or Mbappe, the club will be desperate to avoid heavy punishment and a potential transfer ban. For this reason, they have already drafted up the names of potential sales, and we can take a look at 4 players most likely to leave this summer.
#1 Angel Di Maria
The Argentine winger has had a decent season with PSG, but most of his game-time came following Neymar's broken foot, which ruled the latter out of the remainder of the campaign.
Di Maria scored 19 and assisted 7 for the club this term, but seems to be aware that he will be shunted out so that PSG can comply with the FFP.
"I am happy here, but the club needs to sign new players and to do this, others must be sold. It is not my decision. It is also the club's. For the moment, I am calm." - Di Maria to France Football.
With PSG looking certain to cash in, Barcelona has emerged as a possible destination for the quick, tricky and talented winger who is also capable of playing as a more central attacking midfielder or on either side of the pitch.
It would be disappointing to see a player of his level depart Ligue 1, but with game-time seemingly hard to come by, Di Maria looks set for another move that will make headlines.
#2 Javier Pastore
Another PSG player who has been short on minutes this season is attacking midfielder Javier Pastore.
More often than not, players like Verrati and Rabiot were preferred to start by Emery, ensuring that the talented midfielder could manage only 1412 minutes, in which time he scored 5 and assisted 2 goals. Even fellow country-man and 22 year-old Lo Celso has managed nearly 500 minutes more action this season, a sure indication of Pastore being out of favor at the Parc des Princes.
At 28 years of age, Pastore is entering his prime years as an athlete, and a move away may be exactly what is required to revive his ailing career. An elegant, creative and technically gifted advanced play-maker, Pastore is capable of playing in several offensive roles, due to his ability to both score and create goals.
The Argentine has been rumored to be close to moving to West Ham United. With only a year left on his current contract and PSG keen to offload players, the only hold-up could be his exorbitant wages, however, Pastore may be prepared for a pay-cut in order for more game-time, and could be the latest talent to grace the Premier League.
#3 Layvin Kurzawa
The talented full back has been linked with all of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea in the past, but it is Tottenham, who are believed to be front-runners in the race for the Frenchman.
The left-back has struggled since his move to the capital from Monaco, although he has made 19 league appearances this term. He scored a hat-trick in the 2017-18 Champions League, the only defender to ever do so, but soon after was left out of the squad for the tie against Real Madrid.
With Juventus also interested in the versatile and skilled defender, a transfer battle could ensue. Tottenham, however, seems to be the likelier destination, with Danny Rose set to leave.
Kurzawa could provide great competition to Ben Davies for the starting spot, and the fact that Tottenham have previously signed Serge Aurier and Lucas Moura from PSG suggests it would not be difficult to arrive at an agreement for the Frenchman, either.
#4 Dani Alves
The Brazilian full-back's name has almost become synonymous with trophies, such as has been Dani Alves' success. His stint at PSG thus far has been no different, having won 3 trophies already.
In the previous campaign, Alves played an impressive 2783 minutes for a 35 year-old, scoring 4 goals and assisting 7 across all competitions. The offensive-minded marauding full-back has also made 1.8 key passes per game, with a success rate of 87.5%.
Although the Brazilian is under contract until 2019 and is a close friend of Neymar, recent reports have suggested that PSG could be prepared to cash in on Alves, while giving upcoming talent Thomas Meunier a more prominent role.
A man who was a cornerstone of Pep Guardiola's historic team that twice won the Champions League and regarded as one of the best full-backs of his generation, Alves is an offensive right-back or wing-back who is known in particular for his pace, stamina, overlapping attacking runs, and technical skills, and a move away from PSG may be his last major transfer.
Supremely fit and confident, the Brazilian has talked up a potential move back to Barcelona. Although the Blaugrana have Nelson Semedo and Sergi Roberto for that right-back position, neither player has made a strong case to be handed that role permanently.
As Barcelona, under Valverde, look to challenge Real Madrid's European supremacy, they may well make a fairy-tale move for Alves to provide some much needed experience and consistency in that crucial right-back position.
