The Qatari owners are quietly transforming PSG, shunning galacticos for a French core, to turn the club into a high-end fashion brand
There are club-branded skateboards for £150. Their “Ici c’est Paris” line has the unmistakeable look and pricing of high-end streetwear. There’s a wildly overpriced handbag collaboration with Hello Kitty. There are even club-branded professional grade aerosol cans for £120 a pop, if you want your graffiti to ooze Parisian class.
In defence, World Cup winner Lucas Hernández joins Presnel Kimpembe, Layvin Kurzawa and Parisian full-back Nordi Mukiele. Add in two more Parisians – back-up goalkeeper Alexandre Letellier and 17-year-old midfield prodigy Warren Zaïre-Emery, and there’s a functional, if slightly unbalanced, French XI at the capital’s premier club. Even 16-year-old Ethan Mbappe, Kylian’s brother, is in the Champions League squad.This has not yet bore fruit on the pitch.
“With Messi, Neymar, Mbappe – there was something so 2003 about it all. What I mean by 2003 is – that’s the year David Beckham signed for Real Madrid, the peak of the“Somewhat belatedly, PSG has realised this. They’ve got a new director of communications, who has come from Meta [owner of Facebook and Instagram]. PSG realises it needs to be more relevant to a 2023 audience. Signing a bunch of old blokes from Spain is not very Gen Z. Fandom changes, marketing changes, business changes.
“People needed a rest, so they all went to sleep after the World Cup – but we’re now seeing the country beginning to wake up. Two things are happening in this waking up. The first is a focus on how to utilise and sweat existing assets. The other part is a focus on new assets and investments for the Qataris to plough money into.”Another established Qatari asset is the Qatar Stars League, the nation’s domestic football competition.
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