€2.18b spent, just one final – PSG have failed to turn financial dominance into European success

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Anfield test to come 

©IMAGO

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique was in a defiant mood ahead of his team’s trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in the second leg of their Last 16 Champions League tie. After a solitary goal from Harvey Elliott gave the Premier League giants a slender 1-0 lead in Paris, the French giants will have to beat Arne Slot’s team at Anfield if they have any hope of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the European competition. But, according to Enrique, his side are ready to step up to the challenge. 

“I think we’ll be in the best possible shape for the Liverpool game. We’ve got nothing to lose. Our only objective is victory and that’s what we’re going for,’ the Spaniard told reporters on Monday. “Football allows for surprises; it is true that we were down and sad after the (first-leg) game but as we have analysed the game and after beating Rennes, which is a difficult team, it makes us hopeful. I repeat, we have nothing to lose, which makes us a more dangerous team than we usually are.” 

However, while Enrique may be doing his best to rally the troops, PSG face the daunting prospect of once again getting knocked out of the Champions League in the early stages of the competition. And should Liverpool prevail on Tuesday night and knock their French counterparts out, it will only provide more evidence to the growing suggestions that PSG are quickly becoming one of European football’s most underperforming clubs. And when we take a look at how much money the club have spent and compare that to their record in the competition, it certainly makes for difficult reading. 

How much have PSG spent under QSI?

As is well known in European football, Qatar Sports Investments bought a controlling stake in PSG in 2012 and since then they’ve done their best to ensure that the French giants have played a pivotal role in the transfer window. Indeed, over the course of the last 13 years, the Parisian side have spent €2.18 billion on transfer fees. That in itself means that only two clubs in all of European football have spent more on players since QSI bought PSG. When we look at the club’s net spend in the transfer window, the figure stands at €1.3b. Which places the Ligue 1 club in second place and makes it clear that having spent such remarkable sums in the transfer window – and untold fortunes on wages – that they should be challenging for the Champions League each and every season.

How well have PSG performed in the Champions League under QSI?

However, that has been far from the case. Despite aforementioned fees paid in the transfer window and the likes of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé moving to the club in that time, PSG have severely underperformed when it comes to challenging the established hierarchy of European football over the past 13 years. Since QSI bought the club, PSG have reached the quarter-finals on four occasions, the semi-finals twice and just one final in 2020, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich. However, most worryingly, the club have failed to get beyond the Last 16 in five of the last 11 seasons under QSI ownership. And now run the risk of that number rising to six of the last 12 if they can’t beat Liverpool on Tuesday night. 

Indeed, when we compare PSG’s performances in the competition to the other big hitters in European football it really underlines how poor the club’s return for their money has been on the pitch. Since 2012 Real Madrid have reached six finals, Liverpool have reached three and Manchester City, Juventus and Bayern have all reached two. Of all the clubs mentioned, only Man City have outspent their French counterparts in the transfer window. In fact, as the graphic above illustrates, PSG’s spending on transfer fees since 2012 suggests that the club have paid €2.18b in transfer fees for each final they’ve reached in the Champions League. Only Chelsea have a worse return than the French giants, while Bayern (€610m spent per final), Liverpool (€463m per final) and Real Madrid (€223m) have far lower figures. No matter which way you look at it, the French side have spent a fortune on players since 2012 and had very little success in Europe to show for it.