After a protracted saga, Kylian Mbappe has committed his future to Paris Saint-Germain until 2025, turning down an offer from Real Madrid in the process.
The French champions announced Mbappe’s new deal on Saturday evening, tweeting a video of the 23-year-old overlooking the Park des Princes, captioned: “Our history is written here. Ici c’est Paris.”
Real had offered Mbappe a lucrative contract, but he opted to remain at his hometown club, in favour of being the centrepiece of a squad filled with elite talent.
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Manager Mauricio Pochettino’s future at the club is in doubt but if he does ultimately stay, he has a plethora of players at his disposal, including the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar.
With PSG expected to further bolster their squad this summer as they look to launch their latest assault on the Champions League, the Argentine tactician will have several options as to how to set his side up.
With that said, we took a look at three ways PSG could line up next season with their starman tied down.
4-3-3
4-3-3
Pochettino has favoured this 4-3-3 shape throughout this season, and may look to continue with it into the next campaign to enable the front 3 to interchange fluidly and have three midfielders behind them who can focus on the defensive side of the game.
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An area in which PSG have been rumoured to be looking to strengthen in this transfer window is in midfield. Marco Veratti has undoubtedly been excellent for Les Parisiens, but his midfield counterparts have often struggled in Pochettino’s pressing system.
Adding a technical central midfielder to complement Veratti and the combative Danilo Pereira is of paramount importance to the former Tottenham manager. Despite the extensive links to Manchester United, Frenkie De Jong has also been linked with a move to Paris, and this is exactly the sort of player that would slot seamlessly into this system.
Having De Jong to progress the ball to Mbappe consistently and quickly will only further improve the potency of one of world football’s best forwards.
4-2-3-1
4-2-3-1
Should there be matches where a little less caution is needed in midfield, then a 4-2-3-1 without ball-winning midfielder Danilo may provide PSG with more attacking impetus.
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Pochettino’s side dominate the majority of their games in Ligue 1, so switching to a system that has more technical players and accommodates a number ten against teams that sit back could be effective.
This would perhaps last season have involved bringing Angel Di Maria in, but the Argentine winger is leaving the club this summer. Instead, Julian Draxler is the only natural option currently in the squad to take this mantle.
3-4-3
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3-4-3
If a new number eight cannot be found in this window, PSG may look to offset some of their midfield frailties by switching to a back three.
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This system would suit wing-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, and provide additional cover to the midfield pivot. It would also see veteran defender Sergio Ramos come into the side.
Moreover, it would allow for that frightening front three to operate in the same way, but with extra overlapping support from the wing-backs, who would be given more licence to get forward.
Topics: Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain, Transfers
Alfie Culshaw