Despite financial dominance, PSG conveyor belt of young talent continues to shine

Pablo Gallego

Mbaye and Mayulu on matchday 2 of the Champions League phase between Barca and PSGPhoto par MATTHIEU MIRVILLE / MATTHIEU MIRVILLE / DPPI VIA AFP

When PSG travel to Germany this Tuesday to take on Bayer Leverkusen, they will be looking to make it three wins out of three in the league phase after their fine 2-1 victory against Barcelona just before the break. And sure enough, just as they did against Barcelona, the young guns will have their chance to show what they are worth.

It's not every year that the reigning European champions compete in the Champions League the following season with the youngest squad. This is the case with Paris Saint-Germain. Of all the players they have used so far, the capital club has the lowest average age in the competition (23 years and 247 days), ahead of Chelsea (23 years and 274 days), Brugge (24 years and 25 days), Monaco (24 years and 54 days) and Frankfurt (24 years and 188 days).

There are several explanations for this, and one of them caused a great deal of controversy during the international break in September. But when you play without one of your injured key players like Ousmane Dembele (28), the average is bound to drop. But there's also the coach's choice, which tends to be part of the club's overall policy. If Senny Mayulu started against Atalanta and Ibrahim Mbaye accompanied him against Barca, it was because Luis Enrique thought it more logical to field them rather than Lee Kang-In or Goncalo Ramos.

So yes, the Spanish coach has his share of responsibility. And as explained, these decisions are also in line with the institution's desire to build on the qualities of its academy. While the Asturian is well aware of this from his career in Spanish football, Luis Campos has always made it clear that any major football club must have a coherent youth system to draw on when needed.

In this quest to integrate promising young players as effectively as possible, the two men met with the club's pre-training and training coaches last December. The aim was to share the Spaniard's experience and his expectations of the professional team, in line with the work carried out by the academy. It was an "enriching" and "sharing" moment, according to QSI's sporting advisor, who explained that this made the project "as ambitious as ever", with the desire to see "more and more players from the academy join the professional team".

Nine months later, Luis Enrique fielded the second-youngest XI for a defending champion at the start of a Champions League match (23 years and 98 days), behind Barcelona against BATE Borisov in 2011/12 (23 years and 93 days).

That's quite a message to send out to the academy. And since the start of the season, the Asturian coach has relied heavily on them, as demonstrated by the last Ligue 1 match against Strasbourg, in which Mayulu scored a goal. Paris is the second team in Europe with the lowest average age of its starting XI (23 years and 293 days) and to field players under the age of 20 (1,378 minutes).

While Mayulu is the best-known of them all in Europe, thanks in part to his goal in the Champions League final, other Titis have come into the loop. Mbaye springs to mind as the third-youngest starter in the Champions League this season (17 years, 236 days against Atalanta), behind Dastan Satpaev and Honest Ahanor. Quentin Ndjantou (18 years, 70 days), who came on as a substitute, also had the chance to express himself in Europe against Barcelona. Finally, in the league, Mathis Jangeal (17 years, 95 days) also showed his worth against Auxerre at the Parc des Princes.

As you will have gathered, training is now part of the new philosophy at Paris Saint-Germain. There is no doubt that the doors have never been so open for the Titis since the arrival of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI). The question now is whether they will be able to establish themselves as first-team regulars over the long term.

The list of players trained at PSG in the past who have left the club due to a lack of playing time is a long one. Among the best-known are Mike Maignan, Kingsley Coman and Christopher Nkunku, so the future will tell whether Mayulu can hope to establish himself in Luis Enrique's team, as Warren Zaire-Emery has done.

But let's focus on the present, the pitch and the minutes that have been handed out to everyone. Against Bayer Leverkusen, Luis Enrique is expected to use a similar XI to last Friday, with Mayulu and Mbaye starting. Another opportunity for them to shine and take over, as they did against Atalanta and Barca.