FEATURE | Idrissa Gueye – an assessment of his 1st 8 months at PSG

Over the last few seasons, the midfield became a glaring weakness in the Paris Saint-Germain line-up. The lack of depth in this position has led to Marquinhos having to play minutes as a defensive midfielder, which is why during the summer transfer window, Les Parisiens purchased Idrissa Gueye from Everton FC for €32m.

Initially brought in to help fill the void in a deeper-lying role that was left vacant when Thiago Motta retired in 2018, Gueye has assumed various responsibilities in the midfield during his first seven months. Regardless of where the Senegalese international is on the pitch for PSG, he’s thriving and has helped Marco Verratti stabilise the midfield.

Bringing Versatility in Midfield

Gueye has made 31 total appearances for PSG this season, 19 coming in essentially a defensive midfield role where he’s become one of the better players in that position in Ligue 1. The 30-year-old brings physicality to the table, which is vital for Les Parisiens as the squad has lacked someone in the midfield that will both retrieve the ball and drive forward with it.

Known for his bustling style of play at former club Everton, one of the aspects Gueye’s form that’s translating back to the French league is indeed the high amount of tackles he’s executing per game. According to statistics from Get Football Group’s data partner InStat, he is in the top five in Ligue 1 when it comes to tackles per 90, achieving 3.54, with only Eduardo Camavinga, Lamine Fomba, and William Vainqueur averaging more than the Gueye for midfielders with more than 15 appearances.

Despite the physicality that Senegalese brings, his athleticism has enabled him to develop a knack for interceptions: another way in which he’s successfully disrupting opposition play. He ranks in the top ten in terms of interceptions in the French top flight per 90 with 1.8, further evidencing the extent of the versatility that Gueye brings to how he gets the ball to his talented, more attack-minded teammates.

When Gueye combines this pair of skills consistently over the course of a match, it results in monstrous performances, winning the majority of his duels like he achieved in the opening Champions’ League match against Real Madrid this season and during the return leg against Borussia Dortmund. As a result, if PSG are able to go on a deep run in Europe’s premier competition this season, they will need Gueye to bring this form for all remaining fixtures.

Shortcomings

There plenty of qualities that the 30-year-old has brought to PSG since arriving in the summer, but there are small details that Gueye might want to iron out as the capital club hopes to make a deep run in the Champions’ League.

In his first season, Gueye has shown that he’s more than capable of playing against top European clubs like Real and Dortmund, which is why they need him to be available for these important fixtures. The 30-year-old’s shortcomings thus far have not exactly manifested themselves on the pitch, but Gueye has endured two recurring injuries, one to the groin and the other to the hamstring, which have cost him to miss a couple of group stage matches in the Champions’ League.

If there’s anyone that needs to remain healthy going forward once the season resumes, it’s Gueye. With a thin midfield group, PSG potentially need Gueye to dial back the herculean efforts that he is constantly making to attempt to recover the ball at all costs in every fixture, such is his importance to the starting eleven.

The Future of Gueye Going Forward

At 30-years-old, Gueye is exiting the prime of his career, but he still can hold down the position of a box-to-box midfielder. With injuries, perhaps playing in the defensive midfield role is starting to become more demanding on the body. Taking a look at most of the significant matches PSG has played during the 2019/2020 season, Gueye has played the majority of the time in somewhat of a hybrid of the two positions: in a double pivot in Tuchel’s 4-4-2, which has seen him be relied upon as the more advanced midfielder positionally, with Verratti tasked with pulling the strings with passes from deeper. However, Gueye’s engine and flexibility have meant that he is also relied upon to stop opposition counters, so positionally he is expected to be deeper than Verratti in defence and further up the field in attack.

It is not sustainable for Gueye to continue exerting the effort and energy he does as a pure box-to-box in a two-man midfield, as he enters his thirties. In order to get the most out of Gueye and not endanger his long-term fitness, Tuchel either has to position him in the same role but in a three-man midfield, or fundamentally deeper, with Verratti playing as an advanced playmaker.

The future is however bright for Gueye and PSG, in the Qatari Sports Investment era, the club has a documented track record of squeezing a few good seasons out of players in their 30’s, particularly in the midfield. Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Motta were both able to give Les Parisiens exceptional output for years before departing from the squad. If Gueye can balance his physical form, maintaining the body as it ages, and having a manager to put him in a responsible position, then there’s no question Gueye can be serious net contributor to the club’s ultimate aim of winning the Champions’ League.

E.R.

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Malang Sarr to leave OGC Nice for free this summer

L’Équipe report that 21-year-old French youth international central defender Malang Sarr is set to leave OGC Nice, after it emerged that the reality of his previously unclear contract situation is that his current deal expires in June.

Sarr, who has been forced out at left-back under Patrick Vieira, recently signed to agent Federico Pastorello, had serious interest from Gladbach last season, and remains a hot property on the German market.

His agent also has very close ties with a number of sides in Serie A.

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Nantes President Kita hammers Minister for Sports Maracineanu: “I am not a politician, but stop trying to tell us how to run businesses.”

Speaking in an interview with L’Équipe, Ligue 1 side FC Nantes’ President Waldemar Kita took aim at French Minister for Sports Roxana Maracineanu for her constant justifications of the cancellation of the 2019/20 football campaign, a decision that was taken last week.

“Giving lessons, we are ok. There are people who have led companies for 40 years, like me, so excuse me, this lesson, is easy. I am not a politician, but stop wanting to try to tell us how to manage businesses. We can also ask who there are not enough masks. So everyone has their thing, everyone will be judged afterwards. To plan ahead yes, but we did not plan ahead to leave us in s**t. We worked for two months, four or five hours a day on video calls with 10 to 30 people, every two-three days, it was super tiring and we, we are the losers. We have to have the courage to stay, this was not the right decision that was taken, it is very harsh for the clubs, and at least here, not a single player did not want to restart, all they were asking for was to do so.”

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Paris FC to sign Gaëtan Belaud on a free transfer from Brest

MaLigue2 and Manu Lonjon report that 33-year-old French full-back Gaëtan Belaud is poised to exit Ligue 1 side Brest when his contract expires next month as his current club has no intention of offering him a new deal.

The destination? Ligue 2 outfit Paris FC, who need to compensate in the right-back position, with the loans of Ibrahim Cissé (Angers) and Yacouba Coulibaly (Le Havre) coming to an end next month.

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Mouaad Madri to leave RC Lens for free next month

30-year-old attacking midfielder Mouaad Madri announced yesterday on Instagram that newly promoted to Ligue 1 side RC Lens had decided not to offer him a new contract, with his current deal expiring in June.

He played just three matches in the league for RCL over three years, suffering from a mountain of injury problems.

“I came here with a lot of desire and determination to achieve the aims of the club, which have been attained, but as you know the injuries did not allow me to participate. I want to thank the supporters who for the most part were behind me, as well as the board and all my teammates over the course of three magic years. Despite everything, I am taking away wonderful memories filled with emotion from my time here.”

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Pressure mounts on Minister for Sports Maracineanu as senators write letter demanding an explanation for truncated Ligue 1 season

Le Parisien are reporting that two French senators, Claude Kern and Michel Savin, have written a letter to French Minister for Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, to formally demand an explanation as to why she pushed through the termination of the 2019/20 Ligue 1 campaign, using a date of the 3rd August by UEFA which was a recommendation for when all action should end, rather than how she appears to have interpreted it, as a set rule.

It was this interpretation which led to the premature termination of the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 seasons, owing to the fact that the French government decreed that no professional sport could return, even behind closed doors, until August – however UEFA President Ceferin has since confirmed what Lyon President Aulas has been stating, that he would have allowed for the French season to run up until September.

The letter from the senators reads as follows:

“In light of the information available and the evolution of the health situation, other recovery plans could have been imagined, believe the two elected officials. Also, we would have liked to know, Madam Minister, the reasons which pushed the government to make this choice to stop competitions altogether. Why did you make a decision so quickly and without any exchange in this sense having taken place with the players concerned? Why, as did other European countries having major football championships, have you not waited to find out about the health situation at the end of May?”

The French football farce continues to unravel.

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BeIN Sports owe the LFP up to an additional €35m in international TV rights

L’Équipe and RMC report that BeIN Sports owes the LFP an additional €35m in international TV rights for Ligue 1, which was due and payable since the 30th April.

For the domestic rights, Canal + will pay €30.6m of the €43m that was due and payable on 30th April for matches already played, but nothing thereafter for the rest of the season. BeIN Sports will pay €9m of the €15m due and payable for the same April date, but also nothing for the rest of a campaign that was never completed.

However BeIN has not sorted a €35m bill sent by the LFP which was due and payable at that April benchmark for their international rights. Lyon President Aulas complained about this during the most recent LFP Finance Commission meeting which occurred at the beginning of this week.

The LFP remains confident that they will be able to rescue a portion of the money, €16m, which would be the fair share of the matches that were played of this section of the season, ending 30th April, with quarantine having begun halfway through March.

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RC Lens begin talks for Amiens winger Gaël Kakuta

L’Équipe report that newly-promoted to Ligue 1 side RC Lens have begun talks to sign 28-year-old French winger Gaël Kakuta from Picardy outfit Amiens.

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Initial discussions have begun between the two clubs, with ASC wanting €5.5m in order to sell. A sell-on percentage clause exists from the Picardy side’s previous deal with Rayo Vallecano, but the size of that is not currently known. Lens view this price as excessive, but talks will continue.

There has also been a concrete approach from Dubai-based outfit Shabab Al-Ahli, who have made it clear that they want to make a formal bid imminently. However, Kakuta has made it clear on his side that he wants to remain in France if possible. Despite this, this sentiment might be overriden by the fact that he wants his future to be sorted either way as quickly as possible, even if that is to a further afield destination.