Mbappe & 10 players who could follow Pochettino out of PSG

FT Desk

• Updated: 27 Apr 2022 10:11 CDT
• 5 min read

Mauricio Pochettino is on the cusp of leaving Paris Saint-Germain, according to reports. Who else could follow him out of the club this summer?

PSG reclaimed their Ligue 1 title from Lille this season with four games to spare, Pochettino picking up his first major honour as a manager.

But having been dumped out of the UEFA Champions League and the Coupe de France at the last-16 stage, club bosses are reportedly ready to let the Argentine go, with Antonio Conte linked as a possible successor.

Whomever takes the reins in the French capital, changes are unlikely to stop there. FotballTransfers looks at 10 players who could leave PSG this summer.

Keylor Navas

Of all the players who might feel disgruntled with their lot at PSG, Keylos Navas's case might well be the most justified.

A three-time Champions League winner, Navas has added six major honours since swapping Real Madrid for Paris in 2019, keeping 48 clean sheets in the process.

The Costa Rican has had to share playing time with Gigi Donnarumma this term, though, after the Italian arrived on a free transfer from AC Milan. Twelve years older than Donnarumma, Navas could decide to spend the autumn of his career elsewhere.

Achraf Hakimi

Real Madrid academy graduate Achraf Hakimi has struggled to build upon the promise he showed at Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan in Paris, the once-prolific wing-back's attacking returns slowing down to a goal or assist once every 336 minutes.

Hakimi reportedly doesn't rub along too well with the South American contingent at the Parc des Princes, and with Thilo Kehrer and Colin Dagba also on the books, PSG could probably be tempted to sell.

Kylian Mbappe

Where Navas and Hakimi might have competition for minutes, Kylian Mbappe is undeniably the star man at PSG, and Plan A in their transfer strategy is to keep him.

Mbappe has the most goals and assists respectively in Ligue 1 this season, and the pressure is on the recently crowned champions to extend the contract of an elite-level 23-year-old whose deal expires in the summer.

Real Madrid are known to be admirers, and are perhaps first in the queue to sign Mbappe, although "positive talks" between his mother and agent Fayza Lamari and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi in recent days will have gone down well with the Rouge-et-Bleu support.

Leandro Paredes

Leandro Paredes was a more attacking midfielder when he joined from Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2019, but his PSG minutes have been in central or even defensive midfield, with a galaxy of stars up ahead of him.

Paredes deserves respect for how he has adapted to his role, but it is one he has shared with Marco Verratti, Idrissa Gueye and Gini Wijnaldum this season. Recent surgery to rectify a groin problem in time for the summer suggests that his time might be up.

Mauro Icardi

Icardi's days might also be numbered, especially if Mbappe stays. A once prolific centre-forward who bagged 29 Serie A goals for Inter Milan as recently as 2017/18, his return of four from 24 league outings this season is disappointing to say the least.

There also is his off-field issues with wife Wanda Nara, the model and agent publicly accusing Icardi of infidelity last year. True or not, it is attention PSG do not want as they go in pursuit of a first Champions League under Pochettino's successor.

Angel Di Maria

With Lionel Messi likely the only Argentine PSG will keep this summer, Angel Di Maria is another set for the exit. He has been a loyal club servant, contributing 91 goals and 117 assists in seven years with the club

The winger is 35 midway through next season, though, and PSG might be tempted to cash in now rather than take up the option to extend his contract, which, like Mbappe's, expires this summer.

Gini Wijnaldum

Gini Wijnaldum was so nearly a Barcelona player after leaving Liverpool last summer, and after a season in which he has spent almost as much time on the bench as on the pitch, he might wish he had stuck to his original plan.

PSG are well stocked in his position, and at 19, Xavi Simons will only get better. "Wijnaldum made a mistake in choosing PSG," said former Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid star Rafael vsn der Vaart. Now could be the time to rectify it.

Layvin Kurzawa

Layvin Kurzawa signed a four-year contract extension until 2024 in June 2020, but a few years on and PSG will be underwhelmed with the former Monaco man's contributions since.

Kurzawa has mustered one goal and two assists in all competitions since, and with Nuno Mendes now installed as the first-choice left-back and Abdou Diallo also able to fill in there, Kurzawa now looks surplus to requirements.

Julian Draxler

Another who made the journey from attacking midfield starlet to a midfielder doing the donkeywork, Julian Draxler's PSG story started a few seasons earlier than Paredes's, which means his patience could be wearing yet thinner also.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg have all been linked with providing Draxler with a way home, although he has the pace and skill to succeed in the Premier League, and it's easy to forget he is still only 28.

Juan Bernat

Bernat's story is not so different to Kurzawa's, except that he has been used at left-back when injury would allow, notching 13 appearances in Ligue 1, 10 of them starts.

The Spaniard has, to his immense credit, overcome a ruptured cruciate ligament, but with Mendes making the position his own, player and club might be better parting ways.