5 world-class players who dramatically declined after leaving PSG

PSG are widely considered to be one of world football’s most glamourous clubs – and plenty of big-name players have suffered dramatic declines after leaving the club.

The Ligue 1 giants have been lucky enough to field some of the greatest players in football history, as well as several generational talents who never recovered after leaving Paris

We’ve identified five players who were considered world-class operators before or during their time at PSG, but dramatically declined after leaving.

Neymar

Nobody could quite believe it happened, even after Neymar had been pictured holding aloft a PSG shirt as a £200million player. The football world had changed forever.

His world record fee is yet to be beaten and, while people were quick to label Neymar a failure for not delivering PSG the Champions League they hoped he would, he finished up at the club with 118 goals and 77 assists from just 173 games.

These were absurd numbers, especially when you consider he had lumps kicked out of him every week.

Still, his legacy in Paris will – rightly or wrongly – be judged by the European honour he never won with the club and the Ballon d’Or that has subsequently alluded him.

Watching him move to Al-Hilal in the summer of 2023 – and slink back to Brazil after months of injury-enforced absence – has been a very sad sight.

We’ll never see Neymar at his peak again.

Marco Verratti

During his time in Paris, Verratti was one of the most highly-rated midfielders in Europe. However, since moving to Qatar in 2023, it’s safe to say that his profile within the game has diminished.

Since signing for Al-Arabi, Verratti hasn’t made an international appearance and he’s only managed 32 games at club level.

With his contract in Qatar set to expire at the end of the season, his long-term future is currently up in the air.

Javier Pastore

Pastore joined PSG from Palermo for €42million in 2011 and remained in Paris until 2018.

Despite enjoying a sensational first season – scoring 13 times in 33 appearances – the Argentinian midfielder mostly struggled to justify his hefty price tag thereafter.

He failed to score or assist in 15 La Liga appearances for Elche before terminating his contract in January 2023, subsequently signing for Qatar SC where he remains today.

Pastore’s candle only flickered briefly, but that heat has kept us warm ever since.

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Yohan Cabaye

Cabaye was a vastly experienced player desperate for a big club to take a chance on him for a long time, having balled out for both Lille and Newcastle.

He returned to France in the middle of the 2013-14 season when PSG paid around £19million to whisk him away from the Magpies, but it didn’t quite work out and he was back in England with Crystal Palace 18 months later.

The French midfielder retired in 2021 after a spell in Dubai and a return to France with St-Etienne, and now works as a director for PSG’s youth academy.

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Mauro Icardi

One of football’s ultimate supervillains, PSG splashing €50million on Icardi feels rather apt for a club equally as chaotic.

The deal was completed following his loan spell a year earlier, but Icardi failed to fire for the Ligue 1 juggernauts and was soon shipped off to Galatasaray.

He made his move to Turkey permanent in 2023 and has been banging them in for fun ever since, in what feels like a match made in heaven.