ERLING HAALAND IN PARIS? PSG REPORTEDLY ASKS TO BE KEPT INFORMED ON CITY STRIKER'S FUTURE
PSG is eyeing Erling Haaland: Discover why Ousmane Dembele is being offered to the PL after his fallout with Luis Enrique.
Paris Saint-Germain, fresh off their European triumph, have started poking around about Erling Haaland’s future at Manchester City. That’s according to sources.
Haaland settled at City and signed a massive long-term deal just last January. But that hasn’t stopped Europe’s biggest clubs from sniffing around. Barcelona and Real Madrid, for example, both seem convinced there are release clauses in Haaland’s contract that could let him chase his dream of playing in Spain.
Sure, a move to La Liga feels like the obvious next step for Haaland someday, but PSG aren’t sitting back. They’ve now asked to be kept in the loop if anything changes with Haaland down the line.
Important detail: PSG’s interest in Haaland isn’t tied up in the drama swirling around Ousmane Dembele. Dembele’s future in Paris has gotten pretty cloudy. He ruffled feathers after a tough loss to Rennes, basically calling out his teammates for playing selfishly. “If we play as individuals, it won’t work,” he reportedly said. That didn’t exactly win him friends in the dressing room.
Manager Luis Enrique didn’t mince words, either. He called Dembele’s comments “worthless” and made it clear that no player is bigger than the club.
Things got even messier when Enrique subbed Dembele off before half an hour had passed in PSG’s Champions League match at Monaco. His replacement, Desire Doue, helped spark a comeback win of 3-2 for PSG. That turnaround didn’t do much to help Dembele’s standing.
Now, with all this tension, intermediaries have started quietly gauging interest from other clubs for Dembele. Only a handful of teams could actually afford him, and most of the early feelers have gone out to Premier League sides.
From what we’re hearing, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea have all been approached about a possible move.
Right now, it’s anyone’s guess if PSG will try to patch things up with Dembele or nudge him out the door. One thing’s for sure, though: the club’s covering all its bases. They’re keeping tabs on Haaland, even if signing him soon feels like a long shot.
INJURY MYSTERY: INSIDE THE RECURRING CALF ISSUES THREATENING OUSMANE DEMBéLé’S ELITE CAREER
Ousmane Dembélé’s season is in doubt after a calf injury vs Monaco. Discover how Désiré Doué saved PSG with a stunning 3-2 brace.
Ousmane Dembélé’s season keeps getting rough. On Tuesday, he limped off in the first half against Monaco, adding another injury to his already frustrating year with Paris Saint-Germain.
Désiré Doué stepped in for Dembélé and immediately made things happen. He scored twice, helped set up the other goal, and suddenly PSG found themselves heading back to Paris with a 3-2 lead for next Wednesday’s return leg.
Dembélé, already dealing with a leg problem, lasted just 26 minutes at Stade Louis II. The Ballon d'Or winner has basically been fighting injuries all season. Not long before he walked off, cameras caught him rubbing the back of his left calf, then rolling down his sock. He didn’t look comfortable at all.
Coach Luis Enrique insisted he didn’t take any risks starting Dembélé. “We know how each player’s feeling. No risk, he trained like normal,” Enrique said. “We’ll see if there’s really an injury. He took a knock early, then couldn’t keep running.”
PSG actually trailed 2-0 when Dembélé left, but Doué helped turn things around by halftime.
Injuries have haunted Dembélé for a while. He went out early in the season playing for France, then had to leave the pitch early against Bayern Munich back in November. Even in Barcelona, injuries continued to get in the way.
Doué wasted no time after coming on. Two minutes later, he fired a low shot into the bottom right corner to get PSG back in it. When he celebrated, he cupped his hands over his ears, like he was tuning out all the recent criticism.
“The coach makes his choices. It’s always a team effort, win or lose,” Doué said. “The most important thing is just to win games like this.”
Before the match, Luis Enrique had actually criticised some of his star players after PSG dropped out of first place in Ligue 1 with a loss to Rennes.
Just before halftime, Doué played a big part in PSG’s equaliser. His shot was pushed away by Monaco’s keeper Philipp Köhn, but the ball bounced right to Achraf Hakimi in the box. Hakimi buried it in the bottom left corner.
Then, in the 67th minute, Doué got his second. Warren Zaïre-Emery found him at the edge of the box, and Doué slipped another low shot into the right corner.
Earlier, Köhn had kept out Vitinha’s penalty in the 22nd minute. Monaco’s Aleksandr Golovin didn’t help his team’s cause, getting sent off early for a clumsy foul on Vitinha. So, PSG’s comeback had plenty of drama and a lot of Doué.
COACHLESS AND CLINICAL: HOW RENNES SHOCKED THE WORLD TO DISMANTLE PSG’S LIGUE 1 LEAD
Rennes shock PSG with a 3-1 victory! Read how Mousa Al-Tamari and Breel Embolo ended Paris's win streak and opened the title race.
Four days after sacking coach Habib Beye, Rennes pulled off a shocker. They took down Paris Saint-Germain 3-1, snapping PSG’s seven-game winning streak in Ligue 1. Now, second-placed Lens has a real shot at jumping past PSG and grabbing the top spot if they beat Paris FC in the capital on Saturday.
PSG actually started strong. Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue both found some space early on, but nothing came of it.
After Beye got the boot on Monday, Rennes promoted his assistant, Sebastien Tambouret. Suddenly, the squad that had lost four matches in a row looked like a different team.
Mousa Al-Tamari, their Jordanian forward, opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a rocket into the bottom corner.
In the 69th minute, Esteban Lepaul headed in a second goal from a corner. Just two minutes later, Dembele pulled one back for PSG, finishing off a deflected cross.
Luis Enrique responded by swapping out Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for Bradley Barcola and Lee Kang-in, probably thinking ahead to PSG’s Champions League play-off at Monaco this week.
But Rennes weren’t done. Breel Embolo, coming off the bench, smashed in a third goal with nine minutes left. That sealed the win and pushed Rennes up to fifth place.
Dembele, who’s now scored seven times in his last ten games, didn’t sugarcoat things. “We need to win these kinds of matches. We need to play as a team, not as individuals,” he said. “We have to show more desire. If we just play for ourselves, we won’t win the titles we want.”
He also gave credit to Rennes, where he broke through as a young player. “Rennes played a really good match,” he admitted.
Luis Enrique picked Matvei Safonov over Lucas Chevalier in goal, but Safonov couldn’t see Al-Tamari’s opener. At the back, Willian Pacho didn’t put up a fight, and Illia Zabarnyi looked slow on the other two goals.
Meanwhile, PSG’s Champions League rivals Monaco host Nantes in Friday’s late game.