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PSG follow Man City's footsteps: Braga to become a branch of the Parisians
Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 07.07.22. | 12:50
French champions strengthen their network of clubs and sends players to 'the Quarry'
Manchester City currently have probably the strongest network of "satellite clubs". Palermo, Girona, New York, Troyes, Melbourne, Montevideo, Yokohama, Belgian Lommel... Some are owned in entirety, some are owned in majority - by City Football Group, which also manages the English champions.
Following the example of one of the biggest competitors in the fight for the European throne, Paris Saint-Germain decided to walk down the same path. The Qatari owners of the French club have already taken under their wing the Belgian Premier League club Eupen, while the negotiations on a cooperative deal with Portuguese side Braga are in the final stage, the French media report.
The Portuguese club has been among the top four in its league for years, but mostly fourth. People from the Municipal Stadium, the famous Quarry (nicknamed due to its location at the foot of the hill), believe that by playing young Paris Saint-Germain footballers Braga will become more competitive with the leading trio of Portuguese football: Porto-Sporting-Benfica, but also that they will profit from some future sale of players with a pedigree from Paris.
The initiator of this cooperation is the former sports director of Porto and PSG, Antero Henrique, who recently became the sports director of the Qatar league, but remained an external collaborator for the Saints. During his tenure in Paris, Enrique brought Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Dani Alves to the Parc des Princes and previously in Porto he hired James Rodriguez, Radamel Falcao, Hulk... In Qatar, he is tasked with developing the league there, primarily by mediating in hiring well-known coaches, but also players.
It is hard to believe that the cooperation between Paris Saint-Germain and Braga will contribute to the arrival of players like Mauro Icardi or Leandro Paredes, who are not in the forefront of the Saints' new coach, Christophe Galtier, but surely some young hopefuls will wear the red jersey soon. Two teenagers born in Paris have already loaned the equipment of Braga, left-back Jordan Monteiro and winger Enzo Tayamoutou.
