It has been nothing short of a spectacular season for Paris Saint-Germain. Les Parisiens began 2025 by edging Monaco to a 1-0 victory in the Trophée des Champions, setting a trend of dominance that has persisted ever since. PSG won their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title as well as a second-straight domestic treble following their Coupe de France victory against Stade de Reims, whilst they also went up another level in Europe following last year’s defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals.
Despite losing all-time leading scorer Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid, and despite a dismal start to their Champions League league phase campaign, Les Parisiens managed to eke out a spot in the knockout round, where they would brush aside Stade Brestois, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal to return to the final after five years. It was in Munich that Luis Enrique’s side finally managed to conquer the biggest prize in European club football and secure a maiden Champions League title after demolishing Inter Milan 5-0.
The French behemoths would return to action 15 days later, thrashing Atletico Madrid 4-0 in their first-ever FIFA Club World Cup match in the Rose Bowl, before losing 1-0 to Botafogo with a heavily rotated side. They then left California and headed up to Washington State, beating Seattle Sounders 2-0 in their final group stage match, before taking care of business with a 4-0 demolition of Inter Miami and a 2-0 win vs. Bayern Munich in Atlanta. After finishing with nine men vs. Bayern following the sendings off of Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez, Luis Enrique was forced to bring in Lucas Beraldo alongside his compatriot Marquinhos and retool their defensive unit going into their next match in East Rutherford. Beraldo managed to deliver an assured performance vs. Real Madrid, coping with the threat of a star-studded front three featuring Vinícius Júnior, Mbappé, and Club World Cup top scorer Gonzalo García and winning 4-0 to confirm their spot in the final. It seemed that nothing would stopp PSG from sealing their fifth trophy of the year – certainly not a Chelsea team that had only snuck into the Premier League’s top four and had not even competed in the Champions League in the past two seasons.
Beraldo makes transfer request
Instead, Chelsea gave them a rude awakening and dominated the match from start to finish, with the Blues taking the lead after 22 minutes as Robert Sanchez unleashed Malo Gusto with a pinpoint long ball, with Gusto beating Nuno Mendes to the ball, taking his time and weighing up a shot, only for Beraldo to block it. He then decided to tee up Cole Palmer, who took a slight touch before masterfully rolling it into the back of the net. They were caught out immediately after via another long ball from Levi Colwill, with Palmer squaring up to Vitinha, feigning to pass it before carving the second goal into the back of the net. Chelsea put the game to bed as Palmer lured in Beraldo before weighing a delightful pass towards João Pedro, who nailed home the third goal.
Without Pacho or Hernandez in the left-sided centre-back role, PSG looked incredibly vulnerable in terms of defending long balls in behind, with Beraldo failing to provide security in aerial duels and counter-attacks, whilst Marquinhos looked every bit his 31 years. Both Luis Enrique and sporting director Luis Campos will have been taking notes and understanding that one of their main transfer priorities should be a reliable, physically robust centre-back who can step in for Marquinhos or Pacho and allow Mendes and Achraf Hakimi to boom forward without sacrificing solidity in the backline.
In the following hours since their humiliating defeat at MetLife Stadium, various transfer rumours trickled out from the French press. Namely, that Lucas Hernandez refuses to spend another season in the shadows of Marquinhos and Pacho in central defence and Mendes at left back, and that Beraldo himself is unkeen to remain on the bench for PSG’s biggest matches. After Beraldo, Hernandez, Marquinhos and Pacho, PSG’s only other remaining centre-back is vice captain Presnel Kimpembe, who has spent more time in the treatment room than on the training pitch over the past two-and-a-half years.
Zabarnyi an expensive option for PSG
With less than two months remaining before the closure of the summer transfer window, it’s clear that PSG’s biggest priorities will be offloading returning loanees like Milan Skriniar, Randal Kolo Muani, Renato Sanches, Carlos Soler, Marco Asensio and Nordi Mukiele on permanent deals and clearing space in their wage bill, as well as selling Kang-in Lee, who has grown unhappy with his limited minutes. However, in terms of incomings, PSG are in desperate need of a new defender who isn’t quite as injury-prone as Hernandez and Kimpembe and who is far more decisive in one-on-one duels.
Bournemouth’s Illia Zabarnyi has been heavily linked with a move to Paris, and L’Équipe have even reported that PSG would allow Beraldo to depart as long as they receive €30m and sign Zabarnyi first. However, after already losing two vital cogs of defence in Milos Kerkez and Dean Huijsen, Bournemouth could very well demand a king’s ransom for the Ukrainian. A fee of €70m has been touted. Liverpool’s France international Ibrahima Konaté also finds himself linked with a departure on a free transfer, with the defender’s contract set to expire in 2026, but rather than allow another starting defender to join Real Madrid for pennies on the dollar, PSG could take advantage and sign him on a cost-rate deal, should talks to extend at Anfield fail to yield a positive outcome.
No matter what happens, PSG can be under no illusion now – they must sign a new centre-back.
GFFN | Zach Lowy
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