Paris Saint-Germain players have visited a construction site which will soon be home to their new £263million training ground.
The likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar exchanged their football kits for hard hats, jackets and trousers as they got to see where they will be training from the start of next season.
PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who invited the players to the facility, hopes it will allow them ‘to train in the best possible conditions to achieve success for years to come’.
PSG players including Lionel Messi and Neymar have visited the club’s new training facility
PSG players wore hard hats and jackets as they toured the base where they will train from the start of next season
Building work on the spaces where PSG’s first-team will train will be completed in Spring
The new site is based not far away from their current Camp des Lodges base to the east of the French capital, and also around 20 miles away from their stadium.
Building work on the spaces the PSG team will use will be completed in the Spring, with the first team moving over at the start of pre-season and the academy players also making the switch in January 2024.
A new training facility has been in the plans ever since the club bought by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011.
PSG invested just under €300M (£263m) to build the new complex, with work starting back in 2016.
PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi hopes the facility can help PSG achieve even more success
Though wearing very unusual attire to what they are used to, it was all smiles for the likes of Messi, Mbappe and Neymar as they got to see the layout of the site which traces the path from youth to elite level, the professional players’ building and the pitches.
PSG captain Marquinhos said: ‘It’s simply amazing. I’ve been here for ten years. We thought this project was going to take a while, I wasn’t sure if I’d still be around to see it.
‘Seeing it almost finished now, it’s a real pride to see the club grow and take on such a huge dimension. It shows that the club is heading in the right direction and is like a big family.
Nuno Mendes, Mbappe and Sergio Ramos look on as they visit the facility under construction
PSG have achieved great success over the years but are yet to win the Champions League
‘It gives us confidence to keep giving our best. With a training centre like this, we’re in the best conditions to work, train, and prepare for the seasons to come.’
Al-Khelaifi said that the new training round will help strengthen their position as one of the ‘world’s greatest sport clubs for decades to come’.
PSG have enjoyed great domestic success since their 2011 takeover, winning eight Ligue 1 titles.
However, they are still to achieve their objective of winning the Champions League and will hope their new training facility will better prepare them when it comes to Europe’s most prestigious tournament.
source: dailymail.co.uk
