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Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) secured a hard-fought 4-3 win over Troyes at the Parc des Princes on Saturday (October 29) in Ligue 1. The result helped Christophe Galtier’s men stay atop the standings, continuing their unbeaten start to the season.
Meanwhile, Barcelona have received a boost in their pursuit of Lionel Messi. Elsewhere, the Parisians are embroiled in a battle for a Tottenham Hotspur forward.
On that note, here's a look at the key PSG transfer stories as on October 30, 2022:
Barcelona receive boost in Lionel Messi pursuit
Barcelona have received a boost in their quest to bring Lionel Messi back to the Camp Nou.
According to The Daily Mail via The Express, Messi’s family miss the Spanish city and still consider it their home. They were shocke to leave familiar grounds last summer when the Argentinean had to relocate to PSG. The 35-year-old initially struggled after arriving in Paris, scoring just 11 goals, but has come into his own this campaign.
Messi has plundered 12 goals and set up 13 more from 17 games across competitions for the Parisians. However, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is in the final year of his contract. The Ligue 1 champions want to keep him at the club, while the Blaurana are hoping for a reunion with their prodigal son.
The Argentina captain is yet to come to a decision on his future and wants to concentrate on the FIFA World Cup in Qatar next month. However, his family’s desire to return to their old place could help Barcelona complete a Hollywood homecoming for the 35-year-old. Meanwhile, the Parisians are also hopeful of agreeing a contract extension with Messi.
PSG in race for Son Heung-min
PSG are in the race to sign Son Heung-min, according to journalist Dean Jones. The South Korean has consistently been one of the best players at Tottenham Hotspur and is generating attention from clubs around the continent. Apart from the Parisians, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are also monitoring the 30-year-old.
Speaking recently, as cited by The Liverpool Echo, Jones said that Son could be on the move if Spurs fail to secure a top-four finish.
“I think if Tottenham don't make the top four this season, that's when the worry will probably start to set in, because there's no doubt there will be clubs that are interested in signing Son. Real Madrid are being spoken about at the moment, but outside of that, Liverpool have always liked him, Barcelona would be there and then probably PSG and Bayern Munich,” said Jones.
Son has appeared 18 times this season and has scored five goals.
Christophe Galtier least pleased with team’s defending
Christophe Galtier has expressed his disappointment at his team’s poor defending on Saturday. PSG allowed Troyes to score thrice, making it too close for comfort on the night.
Speaking after the game, Galtier said that his team’s reaction to losing possession was not up to the mark.
“We had to react very often tonight. We attacked well, scored some great goals and had a lot of decent chances. That said, we conceded three goals, and those are three goals too many. We were incredibly average at reacting when we lost the ball,” said Galtier.
He continued:
"It’s not that there was no desire to react to losing the ball. It was that we weren’t very intense in doing so, and we lost a lot of challenges because of it, which gave Troyes a lot of chances on the counter. On top of that, when we had attacking chances, we were completely open without having the balance that you need against a low block."
Galtier added that the Parisians must defend better in the midweek Champions League game.
“We’d spoken about that, but it wasn’t heeded or understood properly. When things aren’t understood properly, I obviously take a share of the responsibility. We need to fix it and keep wanting to score and wanting to be as dangerous as this,” said Galtier.
He added:
“We’ve scored 11 goals this week but conceded five, which is way too many. The three tonight are more than half of what we’d conceded up until then. We’ll need to work with the players and correct that because in the Champions League, when you concede three goals, you’ve got very little chance of winning, and we know that Wednesday’s game is a very important one for finishing top of our group.”
PSG will next travel to Juventus on Wednesday. The Parisians - who are level on points with Benfica (11) - need to match the result of the Portuguese giants on the final day to win the group.
