PSG are the biggest club in the world now Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are Les Galacticaux… and Financial Fair Play is blown out of the water
Kylian Mbappe signing a week after Neymar deal leaves Uefa rules dead and buried as French club create a new world order with worrying ramifications for the rest of football
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN'S signing of Kylian Mbappe has confirmed their status as Les Galacticaux - and ensured Financial Fair Play is dead in the water.
Teenager Mbappe is set to complete a £160million move from Monaco after PSG won the race to land one of the most exciting prospects in world football.
Just a week after the Qatari-backed club landed Neymar in a world-record £198m move from Barcelona, it has confirmed the Paris club are have now moved to the top of the tree.
And it has also ended once and for all the charade of Uefa's FFP regulations.
PSG have muscled their way into becoming the biggest clubs on the planet in the space of a fortnight.
While the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United have built their status on the back of years of success on the field, PSG have reached that level with two bank transfer payments.
Any club who can sign one of the biggest superstars in world football, and follow it up with the capture of the best young talent in the game, are punching at a seriously high level.
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Traditionalists may not be happy, and nor will some of the other big clubs in Europe who are desperate to protect their own status, but a team who has never won the European Cup is now dictating the future of football.
When Uefa introduced their FFP rules there was always a scepticism over their motives - and whether they could ever really enforce them.
The traditional big clubs around Europe were happy because on paper FFP helped protect them and prevent upstarts from gatecrashing the party.
In the meantime, PSG can go on their merry way doing whatever they want and to hell with the consequences.
Others thought they didn't do enough to provide the framework to stop clubs operating beyond their means.
There have been suspicions in the past some clubs have bent the rules in order to sign a player or two - but PSG have essentially blown the whole system out of the water.
The £198m Neymar release clause is not going through their books, instead it has been met by the Qatari investment fund who own the club as a private commercial sponsorship deal.
Quite where the £160m to sign Mbappe is coming from is anyone's guess - but the reality is PSG are benefiting from the arrival of two players worth £358m when they simply do not have the revenue streams to comply with FFP.
Given these deals won't have to be presented until the 2018/19 accounts, they have the freedom conjure up ways to present their books to Uefa in a way that meets the regulations.
And if they do fall foul of them, what is the punishment? A hefty fine which will mean absolutely nothing.
A transfer embargo would also do little damage, because by that point PSG would have amassed a squad so strong they wouldn't have to worry.
But those potential sanctions are all in the future in any case. In the meantime, PSG can go on their merry way doing whatever they want and to hell with the consequences.
FFP is dead in the water.
But what else does this mad summer mean for the future of football?
By virtue of winning the European Cup for the past two seasons, Real Madrid have to be considered favourites to make it a hat-trick this season.
But PSG have now assembled a side that has to be feared across the continent and are serious contenders to win the competition for the first time
Neymar and Mbappe make up a fearsome attacking unit when you combine them with Edinson Cavani.
But it is not just that trio of top class talents in their squad - Julian Draxler, Lucas Moura, Marco Verratti, Javier Pastore, Thiago Motta and Thiaga Silva. The list just goes on and on.
It is a squad of astonishing depth and quality and puts them right up there as one of the two sides to beat in the Champions League this season.
More worrying perhaps is that the business the club have done could ultimately threaten the financial viability of other clubs across Europe.
PSG haven't just assembled a squad the envy of world football, they have changed the face of the game forever.
It is all well and good being bankrolled by an oil-rich country, but there are few clubs who can dip into that kind of resource and survive.
The problem is, the Neymar and Mbappe deals set a new benchmark in transfers - both in terms of the size of fee and the market rate for salaries.
The effect will be an inflation in player and agent demands that will see clubs across Europe having to stretch beyond their means to make a signing in order to keep up with the rest.
Not just at the highest level with the elite clubs, but the drip down will filter through to the domestic leagues and below as the going rate and demands get ever bigger.
...it may seem a ridiculous notion but PSG risk killing the long-term future of their domestic competition
Clubs are going to be saddled with crippling debts and wage bills over the coming few years at levels few can imagine.
There are some who say football is already morally bankrupt. Financially, it could well be in the next five years.
In France, the dangers are even more stark.
Having not even won the French League last season, it may seem a ridiculous notion but PSG risk killing the long-term future of their domestic competition.
Monaco were brilliant as they won the title last season, but the harsh realities of the modern game mean that squad has been torn apart as Europe's elite picked off their best talent.
So the Monaco side that has started the defence of their crown is not anything like the team of champions that went before.
PSG, on the other hand, have riches in talent beyond the wildest dreams of their rivals in Ligue 1 and as they continue to strengthen, so their dominance over their home rivals is in danger of growing.
It is in danger of becoming a one-club league, with others so far behind and lacking the financial muscle to do anything about it.
Lack of competition means lack of interest, from supporters going through the turnstiles to corporate sponsors and television companies making lucrative deals.
The struggles of the Scottish game is an example the French League will be desperate to avoid - but they might not be able to do anything to prevent it.
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