PSG are the most successful state project in football

In UK politics Tony Blair has been insisting that everything is best left to the market with government following business friendly policies.   Football fan Andy Burnham insists that you can’t leave everything to the market.

PSG are the most successful state project in football. That is worth remembering as they dazzle you on the pitch.

Qatar Sports Investments bought PSG in 2011, the deal concluded just under a year after the tiny Gulf state of Qatar was named host nation for the 2022 World Cup. The semantics behind criticisms of their motivations may vary: sportswashing, soft power, geopolitical influence, an elaborate state marketing exercise. Whatever term you use, it all adds up to essentially the same thing: Qatar bought a famous but hitherto underachieving European football club, in a desirable location, in order to further the interests of Qatar.

From a football perspective, it has worked spectacularly. PSG have won 12 of the past 14 French titles and last season’s Champions League, and they are favourites to retain the latter trophy when they face Arsenal in the 2025-26 final on Saturday.

From a business perspective, too: QSI paid around €70million (£61m, $82m) to acquire the club 15 years ago, but the investment group Arctos’s purchase of 12.5 per cent of PSG in 2023 valued the whole thing at around €4.25bn.

They essentially went through three phases: first, the wave of slightly-past-their-best-but-still-effective stars, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Beckham, then the galacticos of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. Finally, a few years ago, they pivoted to actually building a good team, recruiting Dembele, Doue, Barcola, Kvaratskhelia and others.

The ultimate goal was to have a team of the club’s own youth academy graduates, or at least one full of Frenchmen, which they have not quite nailed yet: only two of the starting XI in last year’s Champions League final were French, neither of whom were homegrown, although two former PSG academy kids did come off the bench. What they have done is construct a thrilling, young side who play the sort of football that justifies your ticket price, or TV subscription.

Watching the final

Following TNT Sport’s decision to keep the Champions League final, taking place on Saturday evening, behind a paywall and unavailable to the British public via free-to-air supporter groups from nine Premier League clubs in Europe this season have issued the following statement – supported by the Prime Minister and FSA.

‘Football is for the fans," the statement says.  "We stand together in support of the tradition of European club competition finals being shown free to air and urge TNT to honour this tradition by making the Champions League final free to watch for millions of fans, as it always has been.

"This is bigger than any one club or match. This is about putting fans first. There is still time to make the right call."