Luis Campos, Paris Saint-Germain’s football advisor since 2022, spoke to TF1 in a lengthy interview broadcast in recent days. The PSG executive was notably asked to address the criticism surrounding his club’s very quiet winter transfer window.
Luis Campos: “Except in exceptional circumstances.”
Today, the situation we face is completely different from last season, which was itself different from two years ago. Take the January transfer window, for example. For various reasons, it’s not at all the best time to recruit a player. Except in exceptional circumstances. For us, last winter, that exceptional case was “Kvara” (Khvicha Kvaratskhelia). Being able to recruit him at that time was a great opportunity that we had to seize. We worked hard to bring him from Napoli to Paris, and we are very happy that he is now with us.
Luis Campos: “If a team has the opportunity to advance to the next round, there’s no reason to part ways with its best players.”
Regarding this January transfer window, I hear everyone wondering why we aren’t making any signings. (Dro Fernandez has since signed for PSG, editor’s note). However, there’s an important factor that no one is talking about: the best players are playing in European competitions. And the new formats of the Champions League and Europa League complicate things for us in the January market. The group stage ends very late, on January 28th or 29th, and then there are the playoffs in February. If a team has the opportunity to advance to the next round, there’s no reason to part ways with its best players. They’ll keep them until the final battle to give themselves every chance.
Luis Campos: “We can make big mistakes in this transfer window.” “
Successfully signing a player means paying a much higher price, with no guarantee of getting a good deal. When you recruit in January, the risks you take are greater. (He takes out his mobile phone and reads an analysis from leading data experts) “28% of strikers signed in January don’t score a single goal for their new team that season.” The data confirms that the January transfer window is nothing like the summer transfer window. The conditions are different, the timing too. You can make big mistakes in this transfer window. We also mustn’t forget that we have the same team that won everything last season, except for the goalkeeper.”
In a world where many think they can judge everything from the outside with an absolute authority, one idea has become quite widespread: the success of the transfer window is measured, in particular, by the number of signings. Just as some clubs brought in a lot of players last summer or winter, Paris should have done the same. Never mind the “details.”
Among them, we find what Luis Campos emphasizes: top-level players aren’t always available. And a certain level of quality is necessary to earn a place in Paris. Mentality is also important, because you’ll have to fight for titles and your place on the pitch. There won’t be any favors. This is an aspect of a player that’s harder to assess from the outside.
PSG is therefore on the lookout, careful to target its players wisely. There was Khvicha Kvaratskhelia last season; this time it was the opportunity of Dro Fernandez, an 18-year-old midfielder who indicated he wanted to leave FC Barcelona. This signing doesn’t completely disrupt the squad’s balance, which is also a point to consider. This is the European champion team; stability makes sense. Especially with a young squad. It’s rather strange not to see more enthusiasm surrounding this.
