According to a report by Le Parisien, Lucas Hernandez (28) is nearing a return to training. The former Bayern Munich defender suffered a cruciate ligament rupture during the first leg of PSG’s Champions League semi-final clash with Borussia Dortmund last season. 

However, the French outlet writes that PSG believe Hernandez is ahead of his recovery programme and that he could return to training in the next few weeks. There is also optimism within the club that the left-back could play a few minutes before the end of the calendar year. 

Lucas Hernandez provides competition at left-back

This would mean Nuno Mendes (22) would have some true competition on the left side of the back four as Lucas Beraldo’s (20) performances have yet to fully convince the club that he is at a suitable level since joining Les Parisiens last January. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

The French outlet writes that neither the length of time nor the date when it will be announced has yet been leaked to them, but it is likely to be a two-year contract which could keep the Spanish manager in the capital until the end of the 2026/27 campaign. 

Luis Enrique has been strongly linked with an extension for several months with the former Spain and Barcelona head coach having entered the final year of his contract in the French capital at the start of the current campaign. 

PSG are thought to have been pleased with the direction that the manager has taken the club and believe that he is well-placed to lead the new project that sees the team focus far more on developing younger talent than targeting ready-made stars. 

Luis Enrique to be joined by Luís Campos? 

Le Parisien also notes that the PSG sporting director Luís Campos is considering a two-year extension. The two men are thought to enjoy a complementary relationship with a shared long-term vision even if they do not agree on everything. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

The LFP’s legal committee ordered PSG to pay their former player €55m in unpaid wages and bonuses. Mbappé went unpaid for the final three months of his PSG contract, from April to June, prior to his move to Real Madrid. The refusal to pay the wages came amid a dispute and a messy divorce between the two parties. Les Parisiens believed that they had an oral, gentleman’s agreement with the France captain that they wouldn’t lose out financially, in the event that he left on a free transfer, which he did.

That gentleman’s agreement, which as previously revealed by Get French Football News was part of PSG’s defence in the case, was made public by Mbappé following the Trophée des Champions victory over Toulouse FC in January 2024. The interview in question is shown below:

“With the agreement that I made with the president this summer, regardless of my decision, (at the end of the 2023/24 campaign) we have managed to protect all parties, and maintain serenity at the club for the future challenges – that’s the most important thing,” said Mbappé at the time. 

As revealed by Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, this video was shown during Tuesday’s hearing between the two parties, during which the LFP legal committee’s initial ruling in favour of Mbappé was studied by the LFP’s Advisory Joint Appeals Commission. 

No verdict was given in the wake of Tuesday’s hearing. That will have to wait until the 25th of October, according to RMC Sport.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Cabaye has been a part of the backroom staff in the academy set-up at PSG since 2021. He initially joined the club, for whom he featured as a player, as a sporting coordinator at the academy before becoming assistant sporting director of the Parisian club’s academy in 2023. 

He has now received a further promotion to sporting director of the academy, which means that the former Newcastle United midfielder is now responsible for PSG’s academy players, all the way from the age of 13 when they are in the ‘Pre-Youth Academy’ until they integrate the first-team set-up. 

Cabaye, who made 48 appearances for the France national team, now has increased influence and power within the youth set-up with Les Parisiens. Since the arrival of Luís Campos, there has been an increased focus on developing players from the academy and integrating them into the first-team. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

The LFP’s legal committee ordered PSG to pay their former player €55m in unpaid wages and bonuses. Mbappé went unpaid for the final three months of his PSG contract, from April to June, prior to his move to Real Madrid. The refusal to pay the wages came amid a dispute and a messy divorce between the two parties. Les Parisiens believed that they had an oral, gentleman’s agreement with the France captain that they wouldn’t lose out financially, in the event that he left on a free transfer, which he did.

However, having been ordered to pay Mbappé the unpaid wages and bonuses, PSG refused. As a result, the ruling is now being studied by the LFP’s Advisory Joint Appeals Commission. Representatives of PSG and Mbappé were present at a hearing on Tuesday. 

No verdict was given. That will have to wait until the 25th of October, according to RMC Sport. Leaving the hearing, PSG’s lawyers did not wish to comment on the ongoing dispute, which should reach its conclusion in 10 days times.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Madrid announced the clothing line as a means to provide visibility to their charity foundation’s sporting and social projects for vulnerable groups. The Frenchman’s absence from the photo likely would not have been noticed, had Jude Bellingham (21) posted an unedited version of the promotion on his Instagram (this picture has since been deleted).

Sports Zone have stated that Mbappé was removed from the campaign because Nike did not want his presence in an Adidas advert. However, Eduardo Camavinga (21) who is also a Nike athlete was pictured in Real Madrid’s campaign.

This story comes at an inopportune time for Mbappé who has found himself embroiled in an ongoing controversy. On Sunday, RMC Sport relayed information from Swedish media Aftonbladet, who had reported that police enquiry for a suspected rape at a hotel that the Frenchman had stayed at earlier this week had been opened. 

READ MORE >> Bitter war of words between Kylian Mbappé and PSG escalates amid rape enquiry in Sweden

This report did not refer to Mbappé as the subject of the police’s investigation, unlike an article later that evening from Expressen. Mbappé’s entourage told AFP that they were unaware that he was the subject of any enquiry, while the Swedish prosecutor confirmed the enquiry but did not mention Mbappé. 

Mbappé has responded to the RMC Sport piece declaring “FAKE NEWS” and insinuating that the timing of the story is suspicious and that his former club Paris Saint-Germain could have been trying to damage his image ahead of the hearing regarding their bitter wage dispute. PSG have blasted this implication, speaking via L’Équipe: “Honestly, it’s shameful. We’re going to ignore it and keep our class.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland

Whilst there has been a shift away from signing big-money stars, there has also been an attempt to decrease the average age of the squad. Those efforts have been seen with PSG naming their youngest-ever line-up, with an average age of 22 years and 192 days, during a win over Le Havre AC in Ligue 1 earlier this season. 

As a result of this shifting strategy, there has been a considerable squad overhaul, instigated by Luís Campos, in recent seasons, meaning that this current version of PSG is almost unrecognisable to the team of just three years ago. 

That becomes clear when you look at the current highest scorer in the PSG squad, which is neither an attacker nor a midfielder. It is instead club captain and record appearance-holder Marquinhos. The Brazilian joined Les Parisiens back in 2013. 

In the current squad, Achraf Hakimi is the next all-time top scorer for the club with 15 goals, whilst Goncalo Ramos is next on 14. PSG’s midfield and attack is so recently constructed that it is yet to have the chance to beat the record of the centre-back.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

In a public statement, PSV confirmed that the French police had based their decision on previous incidents with the Dutch fanbase such as last season when the club travelled to face RC Lens in the Champions League group stages. PSV also noted that the police informed them that some internal security matters contributed to their final outcome. 

PSV stated, “PSV regrets not only the decision of the French authorities but also the timing of it. All preparations had already been made and a lot of costs had been incurred. Moreover, Peter Bosz’s selection counted on the support of the loyal supporters.”

This is not the first time that continental fans have not been able to attend their club’s fixtures in France. Last season, Sevilla supporters were banned from travelling to Lens. 

Chance at redemption for PSG

The two teams will play each other in a week’s time on the 22nd of October. PSG will be looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season which came in the previous round of the competition when they lost 2-0 to Arsenal. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

Randal Kolo Muani (25) has consistently produced with the national team, notching a brace in a 2-1 triumph for France over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League.

The 2022 World Cup runner-up has nine goal involvements in his last eight starts with Les Bleus, while he’s got more goals than anyone for Didier Deschamps’ side this year (six).

In their victory on Monday, Kolo Muani became the first French player to net a brace against the Red Devils since Jean-Pierre Papin in the early 1990s.

Indeed, Kolo Muani has been productive for the national team, but the same cannot be said about his form at club level for Paris Saint-Germain.

The Bondy-born player has had anything but a stellar career with Les Parisiens, joining them from Eintracht Frankfurt in a €90m deal in September 2023.

With only 11 goals in 49 competitive matches played for the reigning Ligue 1 champions, it would be fair to see he’s not lived up to expectations. In Paris, Kolo Muani has looked low on confidence and not nearly the same cold-blooded attacker we have seen in France.

National team manager Didier Deschamps said that there may be a reason for the performance differences for Kolo Muani. “With us, he has a different framework, where he knows what I expect from him,” Deschamps said before the start of Euro 2024.

The rangy physique and dribbling of Kolo Muani have been compared to Thierry Henry, but he’s still got a long way to go, to equal the consistency that the 1998 World Cup winner showed for club and country during the prime of his career.

Luis Enrique has a reputation for having players on a short leash after a poor performance, and Kolo Muani’s minutes with the club have deteriorated, with just two Ligue 1 start this season.

His current salary suggests that PSG believed him to be an elite striker in world football; however, it’s not paid off for the club as of yet.

For a player who was relatively unknown until the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, his expectations with PSG may be too high.

He scored 15 goals in 32 Bundesliga fixtures during the 2022-23 campaign, his best as a professional, however, his numbers before that do not suggest he’s a consistent prolific scorer that warrants the kind of salary he’s receiving.

Before his time at Frankfurt, Kolo Muani had just one double-digit season of domestic goals, netting 12 for FC Nantes in 2021-22.

Without Kylian Mbappé (25) in Paris, there’s been a lot on the plate of the PSG strikers, and the club chose not to make big signings to fill the void left when the French captain moved to Real Madrid.

There’s always pressure when you feature for France, but it feels like he doesn’t have as big of a weight on his shoulders with Les Bleus compared to PSG.

Kolo Muani has admitted to not being up to par at times with PSG, saying at the end of the previous campaign that he wished he could quickly forget his first season with the club.

The case of Randal Kolo Muani has never been an open and shut case, nor will it be any time soon.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre

Controversially, he was omitted from Didier Deschamps’ squad to face Israel and Belgium in the UEFA Nations League. That decision, taken in conjunction with the player and his club, Real Madrid, was taken with player welfare and fitness in mind, as he continued to return to full fitness following a thigh injury. 

As the controversy abated, Mbappé was then spotted in Stockholm, Sweden, and according to local media, went to a club on the night of Les Bleus’ match against Israel. He reportedly also visited a nightclub on the night, before returning to Madrid, via Corsica. 

More controversy was sparked on Monday night, just before Les Bleus’ match against Belgium. RMC Sport relayed information from Swedish media Aftonbladet, which reported that a police enquiry for a suspected rape, which happened in the same hotel that Mbappé stayed in Stockholm earlier this week, had been opened.

The report from Aftonbladet in Sweden did not mention Mbappé as being a subject of the police’s investigation, unlike a report from Expressen later that evening, which stated the contrary. Speaking to the AFP, the Real Madrid forward’s entourage stated that they were unaware that he was the subject of any enquiry, and, confirming the enquiry, the Swedish prosecutor did not mention Mbappé’s name.

READ MORE >> Bitter war of words between Kylian Mbappé and PSG escalates amid rape enquiry in Sweden

Mbappé himself reacted to the initial report from Aftonbladet, replying to RMC Sport’s aggregation and calling out the “FAKE NEWS”, insinuating that former club Paris Saint-Germain were trying to sully his image on the eve of a hearing with his former club regarding unpaid wages and bonuses. Speaking after France’s 2-1 win over Belgium, Deschamps reacted to the latest controversy. 

“At the minute, [stories] are coming from everywhere, in whatever way. News, fake news, I don’t know. It is difficult. He is big enough to communicate. We have an environment which is very negative. You have to be careful when you relay things. I am not saying that I know because I don’t,” said Deschamps.

He added, “It is best to take a step back before publishing whatever. However, there are things that aren’t difficult to verify, but if you give credit to whoever… I am taking a step back from it but it isn’t a good thing for the France national team.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle