Olivier Giroud (No. 9) celebrates with Kylian Mbappe after scoring for France against Sweden in a UEFA Nations League League match at Stade de France. Giroud is a potential target to join Mbappe at PSG. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
There is no denying the quality of Paris Saint-Germain’s forward trio. Few clubs (if any other than PSG) boast a trident featuring three otherworldly talents such as Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
The level of play showcased by this group of talents is, simply put, an outlier in world soccer. Barely entering October, the PSG trio has scored a combined 30 goals in all competitions while distributing a total of 17 assists.
Each of the three members of the triumvirate has scored at least 8 goals while Mbappe is the only one without an assist to his name yet.
Speaking of Mbappe … as great as his season has been to date, the France international and World Cup winner has been a little bit on a downslope of late. Mbappe started the campaign scoring 8 goals in the 10 first games of the season (including an Aug. 31 hat trick against Lille ) but he’s only found the back of the net twice since then in the last five games.
Interesting, too, is the fact Mbappe scored for France in the last international break while facing Austria on Sept. 22 a couple of weeks ago. That is, of course, because of what Mbappe said after that game.
“I play differently [with France]. I am asked [to do] other things here compared to my club. I have a lot more freedom here.” Mbappe was referring to the presence of a true striker in the French forward line, saying “the coach knows that there is a No. 9 like [Olivier Giroud] who occupies the defenses [so] I can walk around and go into space. In Paris, it’s different, there isn’t that. I am asked to do the pivot, it is different.”
The “pivot“, Mbappe said. Or in classic football, the “target man.”
It’s going to be quite hard for Paris Saint-Germain to find someone in the transfer market — whether that player is really available or not is an entirely different beast to deal with — on par with Neymar or Messi to replace one of them in the starting XI weekly.
But PSG should definitely be looking to bolster their assets on offense at a position where, being honest, they lack options off the bench other than inexperienced youngster Hugo Ekitike.
So, if PSG is determined to add a striker in the upcoming January transfer window or next summer to keep Mbappe happy, who are some of the most interesting options for the French club to look at? We have found four intriguing possibilities.
because of what Mbappe said after that game</a>.</p>
<p>“I play differently [with France]. I am asked [to do] other things here compared to my club. I have a lot more freedom here.” Mbappe was referring to the presence of a true striker in the French forward line, saying “the coach knows that there is a No. 9 like [Olivier Giroud] who occupies the defenses [so] I can walk around and go into space. In Paris, it’s different, there isn’t that. I am asked to do the pivot, it is different.”</p>
<p>The “<em>pivot</em>“, Mbappe said. Or in classic football, the “target man.”</p>
<p>It’s going to be quite hard for Paris Saint-Germain to find someone in the transfer market — whether that player is really available or not is an entirely different beast to deal with — on par with Neymar or Messi to replace one of them in the starting XI weekly.</p>
<p>But PSG should definitely be looking to bolster their assets on offense at a position where, being honest, they lack options off the bench other than inexperienced youngster Hugo Ekitike.</p>
<p>So, if PSG is determined to add a striker in the upcoming January transfer window or next summer to keep Mbappe happy, who are some of the most interesting options for the French club to look at? We have found four intriguing possibilities.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/07/finding-target-men-psg-sign-free-mbappe/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The proved French available for free </a>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">AC Milan’s French forward Olivier Giroud (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>From AC Milan to PSG? Olivier Giroud (36)</h3>
<p>Is there any more obvious pick than the very own Oli?</p>
<p>The veteran Frenchman is, well, experienced when it comes to practicing this thing we call football. And there is also the personification of aging by our good old friend Father Time, who of course remains undefeated.</p>
<p>“Undefeated at what?” would Olivier Giroud ask.</p>
<p>Giroud might have turned 36 years old a week ago, but the forward is still alive and well. In 11 games this season in all competitions, Giroud has scored 5 goals and assisted another. Remove his penalty kicks from the equation, and Giroud has outperformed his non-penalty Expected Goals (npxG) by 1.1 goals in all competitions.</p>
<p>Perhaps more importantly for Mbappe’s interest, Giroud is the man that fostered the younger France international comments about his “freedom” in the forward line of the national team compared to the role he is used at in PSG.</p>
<p>PSG, as economically powerful as it is, will never spend big bucks on an aging, close-to-retirement striker. Let alone doing that for someone that would seemingly be replacing ,or at least rotating, with either Neymar or Messi whether they remain in the French capital or leave next summer.</p>
<p>Speaking of next summer, though, Giroud’s deal is expiring next June. That will turn Giroud into a free agent after that month is over and if we, (and Giroud) are honest, there wouldn’t be many more options for him when it comes to championship-chasing than joining PSG, in his native France, to partner with someone at the top of world soccer such as Mbappe.</p>
<p>A win-win scenario for both men, isn’t it?</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/07/finding-target-men-psg-sign-free-mbappe/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The ideal, world-renowned target man </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-493332" src=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/07/finding-target-men-psg-sign-free-mbappe/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1233109568-850x560.jpeg" alt="Romelu Lukaku" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Romelu Lukaku celebrates after scoring a goal during the Serie A football match between FC Internazionale and Udinese Calcio. (Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>Romelu Lukaku (29), Inter Milan (on loan from Chelsea)</h3>
<p>Lukaku is definitely more of a future option than someone that could join the French capital this winter — if that, at all.</p>
<p>While still under contract at Chelsea, having signed with the Blues as recently as a year ago for a massive €113m, one could say things have not gone very well for the Belgium striker as a Stamford Bridge inhabitant. Alas, the loan to Inter Milan.</p>
<p>Lukaku needs no introduction at this point in his career. A late bloomer, the Belgium power-forward has been bagging goals in bunches for a few years now although he’s gone dry of late while also suffering from some injury issues in addition to falling out of Thomas Tuchel’s favor.</p>
<p>All things considered, and when fully fit, Lukaku should still be at the peak of his powers. Italian outlet <em>Corriere dello Sport (<a href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/07/finding-target-men-psg-sign-free-mbappe/"https://sempreinter.com/2022/10/04/romelu-lukaku-unlikely-to-be-fit-for-inters-serie-a-clash-with-sassuolo-but-targeting-barcelona-next-week-italian-media-report/">via SempreInter.com</a>) </em>reported last Saturday that the striker is about to make his comeback (after the game against Sassuolo this upcoming weekend and ahead of the UCL game against Barcelona next week) after having missed all games since the end of August.</p>
<p>Even though Lukaku only appeared in three matches with Inter before leaving 68 minutes into the clash against Lazio (Aug. 26), he recorded a goal and an assist during Matchdays 1 and 2 (vs Lecce and Spezia) to kick off the Serie A season.</p>
<p>Last season, Lukaku started 16 games while appearing in 26 for Chelsea in the Premier League. His all-competitions tally was wrapped-up at 15 goals and two assists in 44 total games but only 2,748 minutes of play (the equivalent of around 30 total 90-minute games). That’s an average of one goal-scoring contribution every 162 minutes, or one every (nearly) two games.</p>
<p>Chelsea, of course, didn’t sign <em>that</em> Lukaku, but the one coming from the 2020/21 Italian champion Inter Milan. The one who bagged 24 goals and assisted 11 more in 2,884 minutes for an average of one goal-scoring contribution every 0.92 games –yes, that’s more than one per game.</p>
<p>Lukaku will need to prove he still has it in him. Chelsea’s new gaffer Graham Potter would need to greenlight any transfer out and the new ownership would also need to see his selling as a net positive move for the finances of the club.</p>
<p>A lot of roadblocks ahead and stars to align, but one is allowed to dream about seeing the big Belgian in PSG colors.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/07/finding-target-men-psg-sign-free-mbappe/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The unsettled youngster </a>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic reacts during the Champions League match against Maccabi Haifa, on Oct. 5, 2022. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>From Turin to Paris? Dusan Vlahovic (21), Juventus</h3>
<p>It took Vlahovic a while to reach the pinnacle of football as dreamed by most kids starting their careers around the world. Only, you know, Vlahovic is still 21 yearsold.</p>
<p>All of the above, while confounding, is very true. That’s because Vlahovic started his professional run with Partizan in Serbia scoring one and assisting another goal in 2015/16 over 300 minutes of play, at age 15.</p>
<p>Things went down a year after that (only 125 minutes played, no goals nor assists) but Fiorentina clearly saw the potential in Vlahovic’s boots and didn’t hesitate to pony up more than €3m for the super young Serbian forward. Talk about a bargain.</p>
<p>Four full seasons in Florence helped Vlahovic turn into one of the most coveted strikers in Europe. After missing the full 2017/18 season, Vlahovic came back for a gear-up campaign and then went on to demolish Serie A north and south with 6, 21, and lastly 17 goals for the <em>I Viola</em> before getting sold to Juventus for a bulky €81.6m fee.</p>
<p>As was the case with Romelu Lukaku after moving to the team that saw him become a Serie A legend, Vlahovic has experienced something similar in Turin. He went from otherworldly to plain earthly.</p>
<p>Vlahovic contributed 7+1 goals and assists last season after signing with Juventus at the end of last January after having netted 17+2 for Fiorentina in the first 21 games of the season. On a per-90-minute basis, he went from producing 0.92 goal-scoring contributions to just 0.67.</p>
<p>The drop in personal production and the clear downward trajectory Juventus are following this season (3W, 4D, 1L in eight games this season; one win in the past four matchdays) have put Vlahovic’s name in the rumor mill even though he joined his current club less than a year ago.</p>
<p>Juventus don’t want to give up on the young forward this early in his black-and-white tenure, but with Max Allegri not excelling at his job and a potential coaching change you never know which decision could be around the corner.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/07/finding-target-men-psg-sign-free-mbappe/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The one who got away </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-495090" src=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/07/finding-target-men-psg-sign-free-mbappe/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1429452449-850x560.jpeg" alt="" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Gianluca Scamacca of West Ham United celebrates after scoring during the Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>A Hammer joining PSG? Gianluca Scamacca (23)</h3>
<p>It was all agreed … until it wasn’t. PSG got former Sassuolo striker Gianluca Scamacca inked to a deal to move to the French capital, or so the Parisian think.</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p><a href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/07/finding-target-men-psg-sign-free-mbappe/"https://www.leparisien.fr/sports/football/psg/psg-scamacca-sera-la-prochaine-recrue-04-07-2022-ND46PENABBB37B42GJWWM7U3F4.php?ts=1656951293154%22>Le Parisien</a> reported back on July 4 this summer that a fee quoted at €50 million had “almost” been agreed between both clubs with the player having already agreed terms with the <em>Rouge et Bleu.</em></p>
<p>Luis Campos, the newly appointed PSG football advisor, had his second signing of the summer transfer window in the bag after securing Vitinha … but he found out that Premier League side and London-based club West Ham had trumped the efforts made by PSG to acquire the Italian forward. Turns out that the Parisian gents weren’t as interested in the player as the Hammers.</p>
<p>PSG only offered €35m for the striker, <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/07/finding-target-men-psg-sign-free-mbappe/"https://sport.sky.it/calciomercato/2022/07/22/scamacca-west-ham-calciomercato-news">reported Sky Sports</a>, compared to West Ham’s initial €36m offer with the chance for that figure to get all the way up to €42m counting bonuses and a 10% sell-on fee baked into it.</p>
<p>Is now the time for PSG to amp up their efforts and try to acquire Scamacca once and for all? One thing is for sure: the youngster very well merits a move to an elite-level club.</p>
<p>Since joining West Ham, Scamacca has appeared in six premier league games along with three apps in the UEFA Conference League. The tally isn’t <em>that</em> great, but it’s been only 365 total playing ties over those three matches in which Scamacca has scored three goals total. That is a goal every 121 minutes of playing time, or every game-and-change.</p>
<p>Scamacca has only started two games in the Premier League, though, getting his first call to the starting XI last weekend in MD9 against Wolves at home … where he scored his first goal of the domestic season before getting subbed off 65 minutes into the match.</p>
<p>While Scamacca doesn’t need to prove much more than he’s already done, the truth is that getting some best-league reps in England won’t hurt his value – assuming he delivers. He definitely did so last year in Italy when he put 16 balls inside the net over 36 matches (25 starts, 2,146 min.) for an average of 0.67 goals per game.</p>
<p>Put everything together, add to it the fact that the Italian’s birthday is separated just 11 days from Mbappe’s, and you might be looking at the perfect offensive pairing for years to come.</p>
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<p>It’s up to PSG to decide if they want to raise that €35m bar.</p><!—pageview_candidate—></p>">