Big spenders Sundowns and PSG still chasing Champions League glory

Arthur Sales of Mamelodi Sundowns. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)

9 Feb 2025

Continental conquest remains elusive for both teams, despite the fact that they are the biggest-spending clubs in their respective regions.

Mamelodi Sundowns and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were the biggest-spending soccer clubs in Africa and Europe, respectively, during 2024, according to the Global Transfer Report, which is compiled annually by world soccer’s custodian Fifa.

The report does not specify how much each of the clubs spent, but it said men’s soccer teams around the globe splashed out a total of $8.59-billion on buying players. This is the second-highest transfer expenditure in a single year, trailing only the $9.66-billion spent by the teams in 2023.

A total of 22,779 players switched teams in 2024.

Of those, two of the top five most expensive transfers belonged to PSG. The Parisians bought Portuguese striker Gonçalo Ramos from Benfica for a reported fee of €80-million. PSG also poached another player from Benfica, paying about €60-million for João Neves.

As for Sundowns, they spent about R60-million as they signed Brazilian striker Arthur Sales from Belgian club Lommel – making him the most expensive player in South African soccer history.

Though both Sundowns and PSG maintained their domestic dominance last year, they once again came up short in the Champions League. Coincidentally, both clubs fell in the semifinals in their pursuit of elusive Champions League glory. They did coast to league success in their respective countries, though.

João Neves of Paris Saint-Germain celebrates after scoring a goal. (Photo: Will Palmer / Sports Press Photo / Getty Images)

Local bullies

Sundowns were nearly unplayable during the 2023/24 season, winning an astonishing seventh Premiership title in a row after just one loss in 30 matches. Before this run that Sundowns are on, the record was three league titles in a row, which they held jointly with Pretoria neighbours SuperSport United.

Now the Brazilians are chasing a record-extending eighth Premiership crown on the spin, although Orlando Pirates have offered some resistance so far this season.

In France, PSG have won 10 of the past 12 league titles, including the last three. They are the top team at home.

To be fair to Sundowns and PSG, all the aforementioned transfers were for the 2024/25 season. So, they may yet yield the required results by the end of this campaign.

Nevertheless, even in 2023, both PSG and Sundowns were the second- and third-biggest spenders in their continents. However, they still failed to lift the holy grail for clubs of their stature – the Champions League.

Despite the disappointment of both losing in the semifinals last season, in the new season Sundowns and PSG are once again battling for overall success in their respective Champions League competitions.

Sundowns Sales Arthur Sales of Mamelodi Sundowns. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)

Although Masandawana once conquered Africa, back in 2016, PSG are still searching for their crowning moment.

In 2023, PSG possessed two of the most expensive players in history – Frenchman Kylian Mbappé and Brazil’s Neymar. They also had the legendary left foot of World Cup winner Lionel Messi on their books. But even with these men they failed to reach the pinnacle of European soccer, tumbling out in the round of 16 after a 3-0 defeat to Germany’s Bayern Munich.

When the current owners of PSG took over in 2011, the Paris-based club had won just two French league titles since its formation in 1970. Since the Qatari cohort began pumping millions of euros into the team, it has taken its league tally to 12 overall.

“Our aim is to make the club an institution respected around the world. If we are going to make that happen, we have to win the Champions League… Any team that wins it is seen differently by everyone else,” Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG president, has previously said of the club’s ambitions.

New season potential

This reality remains elusive, despite PSG being one of the biggest-spending clubs in the world. In fact, in the 2024/25 season the Parisians have been underwhelming.

They finished 15th in the new format of the Champions League, which consisted of 36 teams fighting it out for spots in the round of 16.

Under the new format, only the top eight teams qualified automatically for the last 16.

As a result of their poor showing, PSG will have to play two extra matches in a playoff to potentially qualify for the round of 16. The French league champions tackle fellow French side Brest on 11 and 19 February, and the winner will move on to the round of 16. It’s not an ideal route for a team that has spent so much money in the hopes of finally conquering Europe.

“The two Champions League matches will be totally different and will come down to small details. It’s not a competition that requires consistency like Ligue 1,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique after his team smashed Brest 5-2 in the league at the beginning of February.

“They’re a very hard-working team, and they’re good at playing deep. It’s very difficult to play against Brest,” Enrique added.

African quest

This campaign, Sundowns have not been as fluid and exciting as they were last season under Rulani Mokwena – whose stocks in the club plummeted after Sundowns tripped at the Champions League semifinal hurdle for the second successive season.

A slow start to the 2024/25 season was a contributing factor to Mokwena’s successor, Manqoba Mngqithi, losing his job only a few months into the new campaign. Sundowns collected just two points from as many games under Mngqithi in the continental competition. They scored a single goal.

The Sundowns hierarchy felt that with such a slow start they were unlikely to be competitive in continental competition. So, Mngqithi was sacked and replaced by Portuguese mentor Miguel Cardoso.

The Brazilians eventually finished second in their Champions League group, just one point clear of being eliminated. Again, that is not the display one would expect from a team that has spent millions of rands over the past year.

“It’s important that we passed the group stages; it was the objective mission accomplished,” said Cardoso after his team qualified for the quarterfinals. “What is important is how we will grow from now until April when we play in the Champions League.”

Cardoso clearly believes his team can reach the final of the continental competition for the first time since 2016 – as they should after spending as much as they have in 2024.

The same is true for PSG. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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Local bullies

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