PSG's Transfer Strategy: Pursuing Malo Gusto After Mallorca Defeat
Sixty-seven days after lifting the Champions League trophy for the second time, Paris Saint-Germain were dragged back to earth with a thud.
A 3-0 defeat to Real Mallorca – a side freshly relegated to Spain’s second tier – is a brutal way to restart, even for a PSG team stripped of many of its international stars and still short of fitness. The scoreline may not define their season, but it does underline one thing: this squad is not finished.
A Champions League winner still shopping
PSG arrived at this first outing of the summer already deep in the market. The title of European champions has not dulled their appetite; if anything, it has sharpened it.
Lucas Digne and Magnes Akliouche are both hovering on the brink of a move to the capital, their arrivals widely expected but not yet official. At the same time, the club are wrestling with more complex negotiations for Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and Ajax prospect Mika Godts. None of those files is straightforward, yet none has been dropped.
And then another name landed on the desk.
Malo Gusto, from idea to serious option
According to English outlet The Sun, PSG have turned their attention to Chelsea right-back Malo Gusto. On paper, it feels like a luxury. In practice, it speaks to the way Luis Enrique wants to build his squad.
Gusto, 23, is a product of Olympique Lyonnais’ academy, the latest in a long line of attacking full-backs shaped on the banks of the Rhône. Chelsea paid 35 million euros to take him to Stamford Bridge in 2023, and he responded with a full-blooded first full season in England: 49 matches in all competitions, 3 goals, 5 assists, and a place in France’s squad for the 2026 World Cup.
Those numbers have not gone unnoticed. Manchester City, also in the market for a right-back, placed him on their shortlist earlier in the window. Chelsea, for their part, have not closed the door on a sale.
The problem is the price.
An 87 million-euro question
Chelsea value Gusto at 87 million euros. For a player of his age, output and upside, the figure underlines how highly they rate him. For PSG, even with Champions League money in the bank, it looks like a test of just how far they are prepared to go.
Inside the club, the deal is being studied rather than rushed. The Sun reports that PSG are weighing up whether Gusto is worth that outlay, and that his profile has convinced Luis Enrique, who has approved him as a genuine alternative to Achraf Hakimi on the right.
That detail matters. Right-back was never supposed to be the headline act of PSG’s summer. Hakimi remains a cornerstone, and Warren Zaïre-Emery’s impressive performances when asked to cover the role had eased any sense of emergency. The plan was to strengthen elsewhere.
Yet elite squads are built on competition, not comfort. Gusto brings pace, aggression and a willingness to attack the byline, traits that mirror Hakimi’s but with a different rhythm. For a coach obsessed with structure and options, the idea of rotating two high-level, attacking right-backs is understandably tempting.
Chelsea open the door
If PSG are hesitating, Chelsea are not. The London club are open to selling Gusto, particularly after the arrival of Marco Balestra, which adds another body to their defensive options and shifts the internal balance.
That does not mean a deal is close. In France, the possibility of Gusto joining PSG has not been confirmed, and no agreement is in sight. For now, it remains an active file rather than a done move.
Still, the lines are clear. Chelsea are listening. PSG are calculating. Gusto, fresh from a breakout season and already a World Cup squad member, sits at the crossroads of two of Europe’s most ambitious projects.
The European champions have already been reminded, brutally, that reputations do not win pre-season matches. The real question now is whether they are prepared to pay Champions League prices to make sure nights like Mallorca do not become anything more than a jolt on the way to their next era.
