A few days ago, a report emerged in the Financial Times that QSI, the company behind Paris Saint-Germain’s financial backing, were in talks with Leeds United about a possible investment.
The deal would solely be one from a business perspective, as Andrea Radrizzani looks to sell a minority stake of his club shares, meaning there was little to no chance of any money invested by the Qatari company being used to fund player purchases.
What it could mean, however, is a potential closer link to Paris Saint-Germain, who are currently in the business of finding partners to loan some players to.
A report in L’Equipe on Wednesday explained the Ligue 1 champions were currently in talks with US Orléans about a partnership (wanting it set up ‘very soon’) that would see PSG use the Ligue 2 side as a development ground for their reserve players, namely those not quite good enough to feature in the first-team but too old to play for the U19s.
The club recently shocked French football by shutting down their reserve team entirely, clearly doing so with these partnerships in mind, which would allow their footballers to get minutes elsewhere in more competitive leagues than France’s fourth division (where the team played).
While there has been no indication that QSI buying shares in Leeds United would lead to such a partnership down the line, it certainly would make it far likelier.
After all, there’s a reason why Premier League sides enjoy sending their youngsters down to the Championship and the lower leagues to toughen up and get minutes under their belts.
