The Parc des Princes “will not be sold” at Paris Saint-Germain, said the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo in an interview broadcast on Saturday January 14 by The Parisianattracting the wrath of the capital club which said it was ready to “to leave home”.
The negotiations were at a standstill, they are now at an impasse. “It is a firm and definitive position. It is an exceptional heritage of Parisians”, said the elected socialist in front of the readers of the daily. The municipal team said so far open to dialogue, even if the sale was not its “priority option”. After this publication, a spokesperson for the club said to himself “disappointed and surprised” that the Town Hall wants “to dislodge Paris Saint-Germain and its supporters from the Parc des Princes”.
“The mayor forces PSG to leave her house”, he regrets. The club repeats that it needs a stadium larger than the current 47,000 seats, a modest capacity compared to its European competitors and their own stadiums between 60,000 and 90,000 seats. A recurring topic since 2015.
Since 2011 and the takeover of PSG by QSI (Qatar Sports Investments), the club of planetary stars Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar has won eight French championships and six French Cups, in particular. But he failed to conquer the Champions League, his main objective, failing in the final in 2020.
Paris SG conditions its investments on the purchase of the stadium
The club also recalls that it has already invested 85 million euros in a tool that does not belong to it and that the town hall, by refusing to sell it to it, is sitting on a promise from QSI to inject “An additional 500 million euros” to modernize and enlarge the enclosure of the Porte de Saint-Cloud.
“It is obvious that such a large investment will only be made by PSG if we become owners of the Parc des Princesplague the club. By refusing our very significant investment (…) the mayor imposes a tax burden of several million euros on Parisian taxpayers to maintain the structure of a stadium that is over 50 years old and needs complete renovation. »
Joined by Agence France-Presse, a PSG leader points “greed” of the mayor of Paris, and adds that the club “does not want to be hostage to the town hall in this negotiation”. This source refers to a “financial suicide”because the municipality would have to pay “30 million euros just to bring it up to environmental standards, the stadium in its current state is not “green” at all, if ever Mme Hidalgo thought he would seduce elected environmentalists with this decision..
As for the supporters, who only consider PSG at the Parc, “the mayor’s position completely ignores them”plague the leader.
Strong differences regarding the price of the Parc des Princes
The former candidate of the Socialist Party for the presidency did not mention the hypothesis of a departure from the club. “We must support PSG in its desire and need for renovation, increase in capacity, modernization of the Park”even though “part of the stadium is on the ring road, so you can’t dig”she says.
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Inaugurated first in 1897 then in 1972 with its new architecture, the former velodrome has hosted the Parisian club since 1974. The current lease, which came into effect in 2014, runs for thirty years. At the end of November, the president of PSG Nasser Al-Khelaïfi had dug up the hatchet on this subject. “They are pressuring us to leave”had dropped the Qatari leader in a vitriolic interview against the municipality.
The club has indeed formulated a takeover offer, but according to the first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire quoted by The Parisianthe amount offered by PSG was 40 million euros. “It’s cheaper than Paredes”the Argentinian midfielder “bought 50 million euros”he had mocked, attracting the wrath of Mr. Al-Khelaïfi.
The leader of PSG contacted by AFP did not want to confirm these figures but evokes a price asked for the club “seven to eight times higher than the town hall’s own assessments”. “Everyone loses in the position taken by the Mayor. PSG are now forced to find alternative options to relocate the club”concludes the spokesperson for the champions of France. “This is not the outcome the club, nor its supporters, were hoping for”.