Grading Paris Saint-Germain’s Summer Signings on Form So Far This Season

After the arrival of Unai Emery, Paris Saint-Germain were expected to go big this summer in order to take on Europe’s finest and push into the last four of the UEFA Champions League.

That didn’t quite happen and although money was spent, it perhaps wasn’t to the level many were expecting or on the players needed to make that jump.

Hatem Ben Arfa arrived on a free transfer after a stunning season with OGC Nice; Grzegorz Krychowiak reunited with his former boss, moving from Sevilla to Paris for a reported £34 million, per the Daily Mail.

Spanish forward Jese Rodriguez joined from Real Madrid for €25 million, and with a reported fee of €7 million, Belgian international defender Thomas Meunier moved to Ligue 1.

That’s the best part of £60 million to strengthen the squad, plus the £13.5 million to sign Giovani Lo Celso from Rosario Central, but he would return to Argentina on loan.

Lukaku, scores again.If only someone tweeted about that PSG should’ve picked him up during the summer…

— Andreas Karlsson (@AndKarlsson) September 30, 2016

No one from the list above has a genuine pedigree in the Champions League and with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Luiz, Gregory van der Wiel and Salvatore Sirigu no longer in the squad, although still very talented, it’s an inexperienced team.

Two months and eight games into the new league campaign, the international break gives us the perfect opportunity to measure how Emery’s new signings have performed.

Hatem Ben Arfa

The local boy wanted to kick things off with a bang, but it was more like a damp squid in the Trophee des Champions opener against Olympique Lyonnais.

His teammates were excellent, but Ben Arfa, playing as a false nine, failed to get himself involved in the thick of the action. Perhaps fortunate to get on the scoresheet, although it was a good finish.

It was the same against Bastia but as his team struggled, the spotlight brightened on the playmaker. He struggled, and made way for Jese to make his debut after 65 minutes.

Emery took a stance on the Frenchman’s effort in training and he was made to train alone, dumped from the first-team squad.

“He still came to see us this evening in the dressing room, to say congratulations,” Adrien Rabiot told journalists in the mixed zone, following the 3-0 home win over Dijon, via ESPN FC. “He was smiling. I can tell you that things are going well.

“Of course it cannot be easy to be snubbed like that and unable to participate with your teammates. He is a guy who works hard, though, and when he gets his chance I have no doubt he will deliver.”

Le public du Parc des Princes applaudit l’entrée à venir de Ben Arfa #PSGFCGB pic.twitter.com/eqy3YK26ks

— Al (@apereira__) October 1, 2016

After posting on Instagram that he …

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