PSG coach will try to restore €170m attacking duo’s ‘best form’ ahead of Barcelona clash

The summer of 2023 was a rather big one for a lot of clubs, with several important players leaving for the Middle-Eastern leagues offering bizarre contracts.

This also included PSG, who offloaded Julian Draxler to Al-Ahli Doha for €9 million, Marco Verratti and Abdou Diallo to Al-Arabi for €45 million and €15 million, Georginio Wijnaldum to Al-Ettifaq for €8 million, and of course, Neymar to Al-Hilal for €90 million.

They also lost Lionel Messi, who decided against renewing his contract, and ended up joining Inter Miami on a free transfer.

Eventually, the Parisian outfit decided to invest in younger players to replace the firepower upfront. Ousmane Dembele was brought in from Barcelona for €50 million, but they also ended up spending €90 million on Randal Kolo Muani and €80 million on Goncalo Ramos.

Champions League challenge

While PSG have cruised through to the quarter-finals of the competition after dodging the group of death, and then Real Sociedad in the round of 16, a lot of the scoring burden has been left on Kylian Mbappe, who has six goals this season.

€90 million Kolo Muani has just one goal in eight games, while Ramos has zero goal contributions in five games.

Luis Enrique wants to restore the best version of both of these players before PSG take on Barcelona in the quarter-finals, as reported by SPORT.

The duo have scored six goals each in Ligue 1, with Kolo Muani also boasting of four assists, but they have completely failed to mark their presence in the UCL.

Ramos has been struggling for goals. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

Ousmane Dembele’s return

One player that PSG fans do seem happy with, however, is Ousmane Dembele.

The 26-year-old has just the one goal across all competitions, but has clocked eight assists.

While that may seem like an underwhelming return, his presence on the right-wing has caused a lot of problems for all oppositions, with the former Barcelona player averaging over two chances created per game.

All eyes will be on Kylian Mbappe, though, who Ronald Araujo claimed to be the best 1v1 player in the world.