Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) president Nasser Al-Khelaifi recently said that the club are no longer welcome at their home stadium, the Parc des Princes.
The stadium has been the club's home since 1974. However, after not feeling welcomed by the Paris municipality in recent times, the French giants are looking to explore other possibilities.
Al-Khelaifi recently said (via First Post):
“We are no longer welcome at the Parc des Princes. They are pressuring us to leave. They are playing with us and we are tired. I love the Parc des Princes, it’s our history and I respect it more than anything.
"Staying has always been our preference. But I don’t think they want us. We’ve invested 80 million euros in the stadium. But it is not ours. Who would agree to do such a thing?”
Paris municipality's urban development boss Emmanuel Gregoire said that PSG are forcing them to sell the stadium. He said:
“They (PSG) say: ‘we will inject 500 or 600 million (euros) of works only if we are owners’. It is not our first choice to sell them the Parc des Princes. It is the heritage of the city, of Parisians.”
The Parc des Princes was first built back in 1897 and was the home of the French national team before the Stade de France was built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Gregoire further spoke about the situation:
“Discussions are underway around the sale and we told them: ‘before even knowing if we want to sell, we would have to agree on a price'. Today, we have not yet reached the end of these discussions.”
PSG manager Christophe Galtier reveals he doubted his ability to manage the club
Christophe Galtier has been successful since taking over as PSG manager. The Parisians are at the top of the Ligue 1 table this season and have qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.
However, in a recent interview, Galtier said he doubted his ability to manage the team when he received the initial offer. The former OGC Nice manager said (via Get French Football News)
"I didn’t know if I was strong enough to accept Luis Campos’ offer. If I didn’t accept it, I may as well have retired because you’re only given one chance in your life to manage this big club and these players.”
Over the course of the World Cup break, PSG are scheduled to play two friendlies against Ligue 2 clubs Paris FC and Quevilly-Rouen.