PSG: where is Presnel Kimpembe?

That time must be long for Presnel Kimpembe. It’s been more than a year, February 26, 2023 to be exact, since the central defender was last seen in a professional match. Victim of a ruptured Achilles tendon against OM, he had to be back on his feet for the start of next season, or even the end of the year. Unfortunately for him and despite a first return to training, he had to resolve to undergo surgery again during the new year following complications. 2024 started like 2023…

A source recently explained to The Team that “the (medical) staff made him take it too hard.” This would explain the persistent pain. So he returned to the infirmary and for a while. As early as December, we were considering a white season for the 2018 world champion. Since then, his news has been punctuated by weekly medical press releases from PSG. Although many of them had physical problems in the heart of winter, the list of injured has thinned over the weeks, to the point that only Kimpembe remains.

15 matches played in 20 months

He is the last one not to have resumed and he is already looking towards next season. Package for the World Cup in Qatar, it will also be for the Euro in Germany. Before thinking about the French team, the 28-year-old left-hander must already think about his body which has failed him so often over the last 20 months. Since August 2022, he has only played 15 matches in all competitions. He can nevertheless be satisfied with one thing, which is that PSG never gave up on him, despite his physical condition. While his contract ended in 2025, the club did not hesitate to extend it for another year.

All parties were well aware of the difficulty awaiting the 28-year-old defender. It will take time for him to return to full possession of his competitive abilities. Moreover, his salary is conditional on a significant part of variables, in particular matches played. He nevertheless remains an essential piece of the locker room. Trained at the club, he is often the one who welcomes new young people into the group to put them at ease, and is never short of good words with other players. Kimpembe still has this ability to cement things together.

A convalescence that lasts

Obviously this played on the minds of the sports management when it came time to extend it. The defender embodies many things at once, tradition and modernity. Even when injured, he is never far from the rest of the team. All the same, the locker room has changed. During his convalescence. PSG has also strengthened itself at its position. Sergio Ramos and Abdou Diallo left but Milan Skriniar, Lucas Hernández then Lucas Beraldo filled the Ile-de-France ranks. The three players can play in the left axis.

Kimpembe therefore has a double challenge facing him, getting back into shape, and entering the rotation next season, probably with Luis Enrique. To keep in touch, he is regularly present during major meetings like in Barcelona last Tuesday. Already in the first leg, he went to set the mood at the foot of the Auteuil stand with Ethan Mbappé. On the way back, he was on the Montjuïc lawn celebrating the qualification. Some will even have noticed in some images that he avoided putting his right foot on the ground… more than three and a half after his second operation. It goes to show that his return really isn’t happening right away.

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