Neglectful PSG lack discipline and heart – qualities that cannot simply be bought | Jonathan Wilson
Latest Champions League failure confirms gathering egos is no route to big trophies but maybe Qatar cares more about image and influenceIt’s just as well Qatar’s investment in football isn’t to be measured in anything as tangible as silverware. In the 12 years since it took over Paris Saint-Germain, Qatar Sports Investment has spent a little over £1.5bn on players – or, to put it in terms Nicolas Sarkozy would understand, the equivalent of 16 Dassault Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets. It has inflated football’s transfer market, changed the landscape of the sport, brought the emirate to unprecedented prominence, and got past the quarter-finals of the Champions League twice.You can see why a vocal contingent of Manchester United fans dream of something similar, of a Qatari takeover of their own. Who wouldn’t want this? Which fan, raised in a Salford terrace on stories of Eddie Colman and Paul Scholes, Ian Curtis and Albert Finney, on George Best v Benfica and Bryan Robson v Barcelona, hasn’t yearned in their heart of hearts to become a rabble of egos promoting a petrostate with a questionable human rights record? Continue reading…
Football | The Guardian
