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Kingsley Coman infamously scored the winner against PSG in the 2020 Champions League final.

5 forgotten PSG academy graduates who became cult heroes elsewhere

PSG have produced plenty of world-class players over the years, although not all of them made the grade in Paris.

For every homegrown superstar, there are countless examples of other PSG academy graduates who forge a career for themselves elsewhere.

We’ve looked through the players PSG have produced in the past and have found five of them who became cult heroes elsewhere.

Nicolas Anelka

One of the most talented wonderkids ever, Anelka initially left PSG in 1996 after just 12 appearances for the club, joining Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal for £500k.

Twenty-eight goals and a League and Cup double later, Anelka had established himself as one of the best strikers in the world when Real Madrid came calling, and he moved to Spain for £23.5million.

PSG then brought Anelka back to France, but he arguably never fulfilled his vast potential and ended up playing for 12 different clubs during his career.

Many thought he was more talented than Thierry Henry. If PSG kept him in the first place, his career may have panned out differently.

Kingsley Coman

Arguably the biggest regret on this list, Coman left PSG as an 18-year-old on a free transfer to Juventus after making just four appearances in France, where he became the youngest ever player to play for the club when he was 16.

After just one season at Juventus, Coman joined Bayern Munich on an initial loan and then exploded into life.

Still in his 20s, Coman has won pretty much everything on offer and scored the winner in the 2020 Champions League final…against PSG.

That must hurt.


READ NEXT: Where are they now? PSG’s 7 wonderkids from Football Manager 2015

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Matteo Guendouzi

A surprising name on the list, Guendouzi spent nine years in the PSG academy but joined FC Lorient in 2014.

After two eventful seasons in the Arsenal first team, the midfielder rebuilt his reputation at Marseille before moving to Lazio last summer.

A talented central midfielder with a knack for causing trouble, Guendouzi could have been a good option for PSG ahead of some of the other players they’ve tried in his position over the years.

QUIZ: Can you name every club to knock PSG out of the Champions League since 2013?

Jonathan Ikone

While not reaching the heights of others on this list, Ikone has gone on to enjoy a respectable career since leaving PSG.

The striker scored once in 14 Ligue 1 appearances for the Ligue 1 giants, before being part of Lille’s 2020-21 title-winning squad and now plays for Fiorentina.

Ikone has even scored for the France national team, netting the fourth in a 4-1 win over Albania in September 2019. Not bad.

Odsonne Edouard

Edouard may not be on Kylian Mbappe’s level, but he earned himself a Premier League move to Crystal Palace after scoring 88 goals at Celtic.

With his explosive pace and deadly finishing ability, the only way is up for Edouard, and his departure from PSG in 2018 earned the club £9million.

The striker was one of the top talents in PSG’s academy failed to make a single appearance before his departure, highlighting the difficulty young stars have to go through to gain opportunities in the French capital.