Why Luis Campos might be the key to achieving PSG’s ambitions

Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) embarrassing defeat to Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League quarterfinals showed that money cannot be the sole reason for success in football. There has been positive news for PSG this season with Kylian Mbappe’s contract renewal. However, the arrival of Luis Campos as their new sporting director could be the dawn of their new future.

Who is Luis Campos?

Luis Campos is highly regarded amongst those who know him in the football world

Luis Campos is a sporting director and a scout who is highly respected amongst those who know him in the football world. He has gained a reputation for being one of the best at finding hidden and young talents. He was the man who orchestrated AS Monaco and LOSC Lille’s iconic title victories over the last few years by bringing in their players at absolute bargains.

Some of the notable players he brought in at Monaco include Bernardo Silva, Mbappe, Fabinho, Thomas Lemar, Benjamin Mendy and Tiemoue Bakayoko. Monaco bought these players for a combined £42 million. Monaco would later sell them to elite clubs for a combined fee of a whopping £420 million.

Campos also repeated this model in Lille. He bought Jonathan Ikone, Rafael Leao, Nicholas Pepe, and Victor Osimhen for £41 million before selling them for a total of £207 million.

The Problem with PSG

Real Madrid players celebrate their victory as Lionel Messi despairs

The Parisians have so far had the flawed tactic of signing as many superstars as possible to form a star-studded squad. Players take time to settle in and adapt to their new club, their playing style and their new teammates. When you integrate so many newly signed superstars into a team suddenly, it does not guarantee immediate success or any future success.

While that is something to be expected, many fans fail to accept or understand that this team needs time to settle. This is due to the sheer reputation and skill of these players. On PSG’s part this is a huge blunder as they bring these players in for immediate success.

Despite having a good youth academy, many of the talents leave the club due to lack of opportunity and later blossom into high quality players elsewhere. PSG’s past transfer strategies have seemed to only focus on the stature and skill of the player.

While that is a huge part of judging a player, one also has to take into account how they will affect the team’s tactics and the dressing room atmosphere. PSG have not put much thought of the players integration to the club’s squad and tactical play, and that has been evident this season.

How Luis Campos is changing PSG

Vitinha's £40 million move to PSG was the first major signing instigated by Luis Campos

Looking at PSG’s activity this summer window, one can already see the difference after the kind of players they’ve brought to the club. Former PSG sporting director Leonardo would have looked at high-reputed players such as Paulo Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba. While these are players with enormous pedigree and ability, they are not what PSG need right now.

Campos has signed gifted young Portuguese midfielder Vitinha while also bringing in talented French youngsters Hugo Ekitike and Nordi Mukielie. These are young and talented players who have the potential to be world-class players.

There are many benefits to signing young players for the Parisians. Signing high potential youngsters will fix the problem of players not settling quickly enough in the starting line-up. Youngsters will have the time and environment to adapt without big expectations from them. They will gradually be integrated into the starting XI and will lead to higher team tactical familiarity and fluidity.

With players like Sergio Ramos, Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. in the squad, there are plenty of legends to look up to and learn from.

Another important aspect of such signings is that they have to earn a place in the squad and will have to really work towards it. If they had signed a player like Pogba or Ronaldo, it would have been extremely difficult to drop them even if they did not perform.

The manager is much more at liberty with youngsters as he can decide their place in their team solely based on merit. Even if they are dropped, it does not create a tense atmosphere. After being dropped from the starting line-up, young talents tend to work even harder to get back into the team.

While Campos’ appointment might not guarantee immediate success, he definitely has a clear vision in mind for PSG's long-term future. In a few years’ time, the club will have a squad capable of continued success in all of their competitions. Much of this will be down to the signing of the football cult figure in Campos.