Did you know there is a Marvel comic character who goes by the name ‘Hindsight Lad’? And his ‘powers’, if you can call them that, are pretty much exactly what you’d expect. Whenever a plan goes wrong, he is always the first to point out what went wrong, much to the presumed irritation of Captain America et al.
One suspects Hindsight Lad would have a lot on his plate if he, for whatever reason, joined Mauricio Pochettino’s coaching staff at the Parc des Princes.
If this isn’t a damning indictment of Paris Saint-Germain’s increasingly-divisive transfer policy, we don’t know what is. According to FootMercato, the perennial Ligue 1 champions are looking to re-sign Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig in a deal that could set them back around £60 million, if not more.
Les Parisiens could have saved themselves a whole lot of bother – and quite a bit of money too – if they’d given the PSG academy graduate a chance in the first place, before selling Nkunku for a bargain £10 million a couple of years ago.
And Nkunku, with 20 assists and a staggering 30 goals to his name this season, is not the only highly talented young player who slipped through PSG’s fingers before going on to enjoy substantial success elsewhere.
Ferland Mendy helped knock his old employers out of Europe recently. Kingsley Coman came back to haunt PSG in the 2020 Champions League final. Fode Ballo-Toure and Mike Maignan could win the Serie A title with AC Milan.
Moussa Diaby and Arnaud Kalimuendo, meanwhile, may one day be forging a formidable strike partnership at another state-owned, nouveau-riche outfit; the Saudi-funded Newcastle United.
PSG’s loss will be Newcastle’s gain
According to The Mail, Newcastle are eyeing up a potential £50 million club-record deal for Diaby. Sold to Bayer Leverkusen for around £9 million, the jet-heeled France international has scored a club-record 16 goals this season.
Per FootMercato, The minted Magpies are also in for Arnaut Kalimuendo, another young man enjoying the best campaign of his career (11 goals in 34 games at Lens).
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Kalimuendo is still, technically speaking a PSG player, having joined Lens on loan two years ago. Like Coman, Nkunku, Diaby and co, however, the lack of an obvious pathway into the first-team picture in the French capital could see another homegrown talent slip through PSG’s fingers.
What would Hindsight Lad say about that, we wonder?
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