PSG to shift focus following likely exit of Lionel Messi: REPORTS

Lionel Messis impending exit from Paris Saint-Germain could mark the beginning of the end of the French soccer clubs era of excess.

The Argentina greats departure after this season has the potential to be every bit as significant as the host of superstar signings since Qatari money transformed PSG into one of the richest clubs in the world.

Barring a sudden change of heart from either side, Messi is set to leave when his current contract expires in a few weeks.

While that paves the way for the seven-time Ballon dOr winner to earn a reported 400 million a year in Saudi Arabia, it also gives PSG a chance to pivot away from a strategy that hasnt quite worked out and turn instead to developing local talent.

Owned by Qatar Sports Investments since 2011, PSG has dominated French soccer and signed some of the biggest names in the sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Messi. But the team has yet to win European club soccers biggest prize, the Champions League.

If anything, PSG is slipping further away from the trophy it craves the most after back-to-back eliminations in the round of 16 over the past two seasons.Despite a roster stacked with world-class talent, the club has gone out at that stage of the competition in five of the last seven seasons and only reached the final once in its history, in 2020.

Not even the dream team of Messi, Mbappe and Neymar has been able to alter that.

While Messis exit makes things appear clear now, the shift in strategy to focus on young talent seems to have started last year. A state-of-the-art training center in Poissy is close to completion and will provide a base to nurture the best young players France produces.