Fee: €5.5m

Paris Saint-Germain > Bordeaux

Yacine Adli’s transfer to Bordeaux may not have earned many headlines, the fee, for today’s standards, was marginal, and the player more-or-less unknown outside of France and Ligue 1. However, it does perhaps indicate a new reality for Paris Saint-Germain, and the future of their academy prospects. It is no secret that PSG is presently the subject of an investigation into their alleged circumvention of UEFA’s financial fair play policy. The fallout from the investigation, as is typical of UEFA, has been toothless. Nonetheless, there is a closer eye being kept on Paris’ transactions – even if it is only on a macro level. That being said, a club that splashed the GDP of most countries on Kylian Mbappe and Neymar may not be able to commit to many major signings without arousing suspicion. Therefore, sales are necessary to at least give the illusion of compliance, and Adli’s sale could have factored into that narrative – especially as the French giants opted to bring in Leonardo Paredes for €45m. What makes Adli’s transfer more interesting is the fact that PSG refused to sell him to Arsenal last window, indicating that they saw a great deal of potential in the 18-year-old and wanted to keep him in their system. The fact that PSG ultimately decided to sell him to Bordeaux, at what we can assume is a reduced rate given the buckets of money the Premier League is throwing around these days, should not be chalked up to them falling out of love with the player’s talents, and perhaps more an understanding that they can no longer keep all the talented youngsters they are producing. For all the negatives that surround PSG (many of which are warranted) one thing that cannot be downplayed is their academy, and its factory-like production of young talent. Adli himself fits this mould, as does Timothy Weah, who was loaned to Celtic, and Jonathan Ikone, who was sold to Lille for €5m. The reality is you cannot keep all these players – eventually they are going to want to play. Ikone has thrived since arriving at Lille, and has been integral to their success this season. It will be interesting to see if Adli, a similar type of player, is able to have a comparable impact at Bordeaux.