Skriniar, Kolo-Muani, Nuno Mendes, understudy of Marquinhos: the transfer window promises to be lively at Paris Saint-Germain

In the minds of Luis Enrique and the management of Paris Saint-Germain, Milan Skriniar and Randal Kolo-Muani no longer fit into Parisian plans for the end of the season. The 29-year-old defender and the 26-year-old attacker are both under contract until 2028 with PSG and have the common point of having seen their playing time melt away like snow in the sun during this first half of the season. The French striker recruited for 90 million euros in 2023 has played 14 matches while the Slovak has only set foot on the pitch 5 small times since last summer.

If for Skriniar contacts seem to have been established with Galatasaray in particular or with the Serie A side where the former Inter Milan player still has a good rating, nothing has yet been finalized and the Parisian management does not expect to in any case not to recover a large sum of money for a player who arrived free in the summer of 2023. The case of Randal Kolo-Muani is a little different. Recruited hard and fast in Frankfurt a year and a half ago, PSG hopes to recover part of its investment by selling the French international this winter. Bayern Munich seems, for the moment, the club furthest ahead on this issue even if there should be no shortage of requests for the 2022 World Cup finalist.

This is a matter directly linked to the probable departure of Skriniar this winter: the recruitment of a central defender as Marquinhos’ understudy. If PSG seems armed in this sector of play, with Marquinhos, Lucas Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe, Lucas Beraldo and Willian Pacho, Luis Enrique has never hidden his intention to recruit a new central defender in the event of the Slovak’s departure.

The injuries to Hernandez and Kimpembe combined with the sinusoidal performances of Beraldo would have pushed the Spanish coach of PSG to make this recruitment a priority of the winter transfer window according to our colleagues from L’Equipe. If for the moment no name has filtered on the identity of this desired recruit, the capital club should turn towards the profile of a promising young defender capable of progressing in the wake of the Parisian captain.

This has been one of the recurring debates of this first half of the PSG season. The non-replacement of Kylian Mbappé last summer came back to the forefront with the repeated poor performances of Luis Enrique’s men in Europe. With only Gonçalo Ramos and Randal Kolo-Muani capable of playing at number 9, this sector of play is one of the poor children of the Parisian club this season. In the event of the departure of the French center forward, as mentioned above, the debate on the recruitment of a big name in attack will obviously resurface.

But will Luis Enrique, who never stopped repeating to everyone who wanted to listen that he preferred to have five players with five goals rather than a player with 25, change his philosophy at a time when his club will play for its European future during the last two group days of the Champions League? And if the winter transfer window is often described as an adjustment transfer window, it is not certain that Paris can attract, in the middle of a season, a big name capable of revolutionizing its offensive sector. In any case, if RKM leaves the banks of the Seine, PSG will inevitably have to replace him in its squad to hope to participate in the European spring. Before aiming bigger next summer?

Finally, the last file that Paris Saint-Germain will have to manage this winter is the contract extension of Nuno Mendes. Indisputable starter on the left side of the Parisian defense since the start of the season, the Portuguese is under contract until June 2026 with Paris. And according to RMC Sport, negotiations for the extension of his contract are at a standstill, so much so that the defender is considering leaving the club this winter.

Despite several proposals sent to the Portuguese international, no common ground has yet been found. Nuno Mendes is demanding a clear salary increase, in line with his status as holder, and would not be against a new challenge. The 22-year-old full-back is particularly courted by Manchester United. Despite everything, the Parisian leaders are optimistic on this issue and are not considering for a single second the defender’s departure this winter.