PSG made a flurry of major signings in the summer of 2021, but apparently, none have garnered as much attention as Lionel Messi.
1. Achraf Hakimi
The Moroccan player was born in Madrid. He is a product of La Fabrica academy, having established himself as one of the best full-backs in Europe. Before coming to PSG, Hakimi played extremely impressively, helping Antonio Conte’s Inter win the Serie A championship.
Hakimi was the contract that made PSG spend the most money that year, with a fee of 60 million euros plus surcharges. Anyway, this 24-year-old player did not disappoint the fans of the French team.
2. Danilo Pereira
The versatile Portuguese player can play in defense or in midfield. Pereira initially joined PSG on a one-year loan from Porto and was bought permanently for 16 million euros the following summer.
The 31-year-old remains under contract at Parc des Princes until 2025.
3. Nuno Mendes
Danilo’s national team teammate Mendes also arrived at PSG in the summer of 2021 in a similar deal – having been on loan from Sporting Lisbon before being bought permanently last summer. The 20-year-old left-back initially made headlines as a young talent during Sporting’s surprise championship win in the 2020-21 season and his promotion continues to be promoted in Paris.
Mendes was nominated for the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award in his first season – the award had previously gone to Thierry Henry, Franck Ribery, Eden Hazard and Kylian Mbappe – but was lost to William Saliba surpass.
4. Georginio Wijnaldum
The Dutch international is out of contract at Anfield and is leaving in search of a new challenge. So far, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have not found a worthy replacement for him.
Wijnaldum struggled in Paris and was loaned to Jose Mourinho’s Roma at Roma, however, his career did not go well because of long-term injuries.
5. Gianluigi Donnarumma
The summer of 2021 was truly memorable for Donnarumma, as he shone as he helped Italy win EURO 2020. The goalkeeper was only 22 years old when he moved to Paris, but has already made more than 200 appearances for boyhood club AC Milan. .
Donnarumma played quite well at PSG, and left Keylor Navas on the bench. However, Milan will not have any regrets afterwards. They won the Scudetto a year after Donnarumma left, went further than PSG in the Champions League, and found a very reliable goalkeeper in Mike Maignan.
6. Sergio Ramos
Ramos along with Messi, Donnarumma and Wijnaldum are the four big names who came to PSG on a free transfer that summer. Remember, they have won a total of 9 Champions League titles.
Real Madrid continued to win the Champions League without Ramos, while the former Spain international only started 8 matches in his first season due to injury. However, in the 2nd season, the 37-year-old player played a much more important role.
Ramos’ contract with PSG expires in the summer and is said to be moving to Saudi Arabia with Messi to “retire”.