Paris Saint-Germain have been a club in transition. There has been a shift away from the “bling-bling” era of stars with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé all departing within the space of the year. The latter was the last to depart, joining Real Madrid on a free transfer in July.
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.
