Psg

Why does it seem like chaos is the predominant theme around Paris Saint-Germain, one of the world's wealthiest teams and one boasting Neymar, Lionel Messi ...

They didn't even buy the team because of the potential financial benefits that come with owning a soccer team that wins a lot of soccer games. They've ruthlessly expanded across the world and hired some of the smartest analysts; they seem to revel, in a sense, at being the brainiac bad guy. He doesn't want to win the Champions League for the sake of winning the Champions League; he wants to win because he thinks winning will change the way people see his club. [Jordan](/soccer/team?id=2917)-brand uniforms, and it's why they signed Neymar, Mbappe and [Lionel Messi](/soccer/player/_/id/45843/Lionel-Messi). At Madrid, it's the closest thing to soccer's version of the Lakers' model: a team that won with stars in the past and can now credibly claim it's where stars still must come if they want to keep winning. There's a culture of open-mindedness and aggression that I think works particularly well because of the players they tend to target: undervalued talents rather than established stars. The current version of the side has beautifully blended a number of young upstarts with the remaining core of the team that won three Champions League titles in a row. At Manchester City, it's a culture built in the image of Pep Guardiola -- and with way more money than everyone else. [reported](/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/4767566/kylian-mbappe-seeks-psg-exit-in-january-amid-broken-relationship-with-club-sources) that [Kylian Mbappe](/soccer/player/_/id/231388/Kylian-Mbappé), mere months after signing one of the most lucrative contracts in soccer history, has decided he wants to leave [Paris Saint-Germain](/soccer/team?id=160) in January. 9 for him to play off, the lack of added center-back signings, and the continued presence of [Neymar](/soccer/player/_/id/132948/Neymar) in the squad. It has led to massive success -- the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal era, a title with LeBron James -- and some equally massive whiffs. Superstars have a bigger impact on team success in basketball than in any other sport, and the prevailing team-building strategies over the past 15 years fit into one of three buckets: