Mbappé with your canapés? The absurd influence of Nasser al-Khelaifi

‘Essentially, what the president of PSG needs to do is persuade himself to give himself a large sum of money.’ Illustration: Lo Cole

The French football league has reached a point of jeopardy. The new round of TV rights is yet to be sold. The president of Paris Saint-Germain needs a bumper deal to satisfy FFP. The president of beIN Sports, the most likely white knight, is holding out on a late offer. A sympathetic ear in the Qatari government has yet to be found.

Luckily there is some hope of a breakthrough. Mainly because all of the parties mentioned above are, in a rare note of good fortune, the same person. And all of them are called Nasser al-Khelaifi.