Barcola, Vitinha and Zaire-Emery: The future of PSG after Kylian Mbappe

Robin Bairner

• 28 Apr 2024 20:36 BST
• 4 min read

With the Ligue 1 title now secured and a potential run to the final of the Champions League, Kylian Mbappe’s final season with PSG will be one of the most successful of his career.

Mbappe and PSG, though, stand at a crossroads. The striker will depart from Parc des Princes at the end of his contract in the summer, with a transfer to Real Madrid more than probable.

It will be a dream come true for the 25-year-old striker yet it leaves questions over which direction the Parisians will turn.

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Talk of a €200 million move for Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal appears fanciful, despite the bluster, while finding a like-for-like replacement for Mbappe will be impossible. There is, quite simply, no one better in his role in world football.

Mbappe, after all, has 41 goals in 42 appearances this season.

Goncalo Ramos is PSG’s next leading marksman in all competitions. He has found the net just 13 times.

And yet despite this massive goalscoring vacuum, there is hope for the future at Porte de Saint-Cloud.

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PSG's bright future

Luis Enrique and Luis Campos have built an exciting young squad that will need limited summer additions.

The team that won 4-1 in Barcelona in the Champions League, for instance, had an average age of just 25 – that’s 18 months younger on average than the Catalans’ much-vaunted ‘youngsters’. PSG did not use a single player over the age of 30 in that encounter and had just two in the 23-man matchday panel.

Three of the youngest, Vitinha, Warren Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barcola are well placed to leave PSG into their new era, and all for different reasons.

At 24, the Portuguese is already PSG’s technical leader, having grown in maturity and confidence in the centre of the park this season. His rise has justified the decision – reportedly fuelled by Mbappe – to sell Marco Verratti last summer. With nine goals to his credit this season, he already appears an upgrade.

Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Zaire-Emery represents all that PSG want of their future. A ‘Titi’ who has come through the academy of the club, the teenager already displays world-class poise, even if he has cooled a little since his explosive start to the season. There is little doubt that he has the potential to become one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world.

And then to Barcola. Seen as a gamble when PSG paid €45 million to Lyon to beat Chelsea to him, the 21-year-old looks a capable replacement for Mbappe. His game needs refining in areas – decision-making and finishing – yet his mentality is formidable as he displayed with his superb performances against Barca.

With the departure of Mbappe, PSG’s ‘Bling-bling’ era is well and truly over, yet given time, this new generation could be even more successful.