Paris Saint-Germain 's Qatari owners have told the club to 'aggressively' slash their wage budget amid speculation that they're interested in buying Manchester United.
Although's PSG state-backed hierarchy insist that Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani 's attempts to purchase United have nothing to do with the French club, critics claim that it's simply a matter of semantics. Sheikh Jassim, chair of the Qatari Islamic Bank (QIB), has lodged an official bid to the Glazer family which United's owners are currently mulling over alongside Sir Jim Ratcliffe 's takeover offer.
The English club are up for sale but recent reports suggest that United's executive co-chairmen, brothers Joel and Avram Glazer, are both reluctant to selling their family's entire majority stake in the club which they've possessed since 2005. Avram is also preparing to be at Wembley on Sunday to watch the Red Devils face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, which would be a rare appearance at one of United's games.
As for Sheikh Jassim, he's understood to be confident of not falling foul when it comes to UEFA 's rules on ownership. PSG are already owned by state-backed fund Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and multi-club models are frowned upon by the European football governing body when it comes to sides being involved in the same competitions.
It's now been claimed QSI, who acquired a majority stake in the Parisian side 12 years ago, want to slash the club's wage budget by 30 per cent come the end of the summer transfer window in a move which is unconnected to Sheikh Jassim's takeover bid, according to the Times. Instead, the spending reduction is driven by a UEFA Financial Fair Play settlement agreement and may result in at least one of PSG's three attacking superstars being allowed to leave.
Lionel Messi is out of contract at the end of this season, with the Ligue 1 champions yet to agree a new deal amid talk of a return to Barcelona. It's said that Messi, 35, currently pockets an astounding after-tax salary of €35million (£31m).
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Kylian Mbappe signed a new three-year contract last summer after rejecting Real Madrid, but his reported £650,000-a-week contract hasn't silenced rumours of a move to the Spanish capital. With PSG needing to come from behind in their Champions League round-of-16 second leg away to Bayern Munich next month, French talisman Mbappe could seek pastures new in his ongoing search to get his hands on Europe's biggest prize at club level.
Finally, Neymar has been tipped to leave PSG after six years following a series of alleged bust-ups behind the scenes. The 31-year-old Brazilian recently picked up a serious-looking ankle injury which could spell the end of his time in Paris.
The Times' report adds that Neymar is entitled to the same basic wage as Messi until 2025 and holds an option to extend for a further year. PSG made the Brazil international available for a transfer last summer, and plan to do so again this year, but didn't receive an offer for his services.
QSI are so desperate to keep Mbappe that they rejected a €200m (£171m) bid from Real Madrid in the final days of the 2021 summer transfer window. The Paris-born forward, still only 24 years old, committed his short-term future to PSG by signing his new deal last May which delighted the club hierarchy, but for how long they'll be pleased remains uncertain.
PSG have accepted a fine from UEFA of up to €65m (£57m) over the next three seasons. If they fail to meet agreed targets on reducing financial deficits until the end of 2025-26 season, PSG face the prospect of having a reduced squad size for European club competitions, a ban on any net spend for registering new players, and potential exclusion from the Champions League.
