⚽ Football: The Best Club in Europe this year is French

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Gulf 💰 + 🇪🇺 Football = 🏆

French football champions Paris Saint-Germain’s 2025 Champions League win can, if you squint hard enough, be traced back to 2004. You can decide whether this is apophenia or not.

In 2004, Dubai-based international airline Emirates announced what was at the time the largest sponsorship deal in English football, a £100 million deal with English Premier League club Arsenal F.C. It included a shirt sponsorship and naming rights to the Arsenal stadium, since called The Emirates Stadium. This was unprecedented not only for the size and longevity of the deal, but also the source — an Arab airline was betting on a long term partnership with an English football club.

Fast forward two years to July 2008, and in the midst of the energy crises, oil prices skyrocketed to $147.30 a barrel. This led to an overwhelming influx of wealth and cash into oil rich countries, particularly the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Qatar (though Qatar also makes money through vast gas deposits). Flush with cash, Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the UAE, went on a shopping spree. On their shopping list was the other Manchester-based football club, and they bought Manchester City F.C. in August 2008. In the 17 years since that deal, the club has gone onto become one of the biggest and most successful sporting clubs in the world, becoming the poster child of foreign state-owned European football clubs.

Then came the big one — in 2010, Qatar was announced as the host of the FIFA World Cup 2022. In 2011, Qatar announced that it was buying Paris-based Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (PSG), and to top it off, by 2014, Qatar-based Al Jazeera Sport became France-based beIN Media Group, establishing a deep partnership between Qatar and French football.

Fast forward to June 2017, a diplomatic crisis erupted between the three richest and most ambitious Gulf countries. Qatar was accused of supporting terrorism by neighbours Saudi Arabia and the UAE. What followed was political and geographic isolation by both Saudi Arabia and the UAE who closed off all trade with and their airspace to the energy-rich peninsula. In what has since been opined as a statement of power by the Qataris, Brazilian football superstar Neymar was brought into PSG at a (still!) world record transfer fee of €222 million in August 2017, followed by teenage (at the time) French sensation Kylian Mbappé for €180 million in 2018. PSG now had the most expensive and second most expensive football players in the world. But while PSG continued to dominate French football, they weren’t able to replicate their success on the European stage.

Finally, in 2021, Qatar’s siege ended, and after a successful hosting of the World Cup in 2022, the country’s approach with PSG moved on from big superstars towards building a younger, hungrier team. That is the team that has won their first ever Champions League title this year.

In today’s issue of Signpost, we will look at how PSG and their fellow finalists Inter Milan (Inter) of Italy reported their respective win and loss on their official websites.

Note: In the interim, Gulf money in European football has only increased. Saudi Arabia bought English football club Newcastle United F.C. in 2021, while also bringing the biggest European football stars to the Saudi Pro League in the last few years. To top it off, Saudi Arabia, like Qatar did in 2022, will host the forthcoming 2034 FIFA World Cup.

🇮🇹 INTER MILAN: Inter beaten in Munich, PSG win the Champions League [link]

📢 What Inter Milan is saying
A very short and depressing read for any Inter Milan fan that captures what a supporter feels when their team falls short at the final hurdle. Lots of photos and video highlights of the match follow the short write up.

1. 📸 Visuals

There are a lot of photos in the article, including a 2 minute video of highlights, but for this section I will focus on the photo used at the very top of the article. In it, we see the match in full flow, footballers from both sides attacking the ball to deliver a goal.

In the foreground are two PSG players, in dark blue, taking on two Inter players, in deep yellow. The Inter players are almost tripping over the ball, while the PSG players are desperately flailing to get the ball away from them. In the background we see two PSG players and one Inter player looking on, as fans and ground staff, including media photographers, are layered further behind.

Towards the right of the image is the PSG goalkeeper standing in front of his goal, leaning forward, ready to make his move as the ball progresses closer.

2. ✍🏽 Words

The headline of the article mentions Inter Milan first, then Munich (the host city of the match) and then PSG. The subtitle provides further detail, saying that PSG ‘secured the victory’ with a ‘5-0’ scoreline. The article itself starts with a very emotional line, ‘it was a gloomy night in Munich’, before painting the supporters of Inter Milan who made the journey to Munich a ‘sea of black and blue’, which are the team colours.

The rest of the paragraph is written in first person, with the writer saying ‘it wasn’t the final we hoped for’, before calling PSG ‘hugely convincing’, and ‘perfect’, who ‘left no space for the Nerazzurri [nickname for Inter Milan] to reward their many fans with a great ending’. The team were ‘flawlessly beaten’, not able to handle ‘PSG’s energy, pace, ability to move the ball, and their clinical nature in front of goal’. Here, finally, there is some praise for Inter Milan, being called a ‘marvellous team that performed so well across Europe’, but were found wanting, ‘suddenly run [sic] out of energy’. It was a ‘heavy price’ at the end of a ‘very difficult season’, but with a new season just around the corner.

❓ What it means
Despite Inter Milan conceding five goals and scoring none, the header image shows the team battling for possession in front of the PSG goal. Even the headline mentions Inter first, the host city second, and only then does it mention PSG. Most images in the article are also focused on Inter’s players.

The article itself reads like a casual fan conversation — sad, disappointed, but potentially hopeful. There are no mentions of individual players, playmakers, or moments from the match, perhaps because it was such a mauling. The fact that the article ends with the mention that the club will get another shot at redemption in a new season that starts with the Club World Cup in less than 10 days is meant as a soothing balm on the furrowed brow of disappointed fans.

The message is clear: we lost the match collectively, it feels bad, and we acknowledge that we’ve been beaten by a superior team. But we will live to fight another day, in a fortnight. Time to look ahead.

⚠️ Why it matters
Inter Milan have already won the Champions League three time previously, with the most recent coming in the 2009-10 season. But even that was 15 years ago, the last time the cup was won by an Italian team. Since then, the upper echelons of European football have been dominated by Spanish and English clubs. Now, with PSG’s win, there is an argument that it might just be the turn of the French. I can understand if the fans are feeling depressed about things.

However, the article is so casually written that there’s no analysis or understanding about why the result against Inter was so convincing. Perhaps this isn’t the time for retrospection and analysis?

🇫🇷 PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN: Paris Saint-Germain win the Champions League for the first time in their history! [link]

📢 What Paris Saint-Germain is saying
PSG is relishing in their most successful season ever, providing every detail of every winning scoreline for the team both nationally and internationally. The influence of Qatar in the team’s success is also liberally sprinkled throughout the article.

1. 📸 Visuals

Unlike Inter Milan, PSG use only one photo for the article. In the photo we see the entire team celebrating ecstatically as they are crowned winners of the Champions League. The team is standing grouped together, dressed in their gold medals, while one player hold’s the trophy high above his head, shouting in ecstasy as others around him pump their firsts high into the air and join him mid-scream. Behind them is a big banner with the words ‘WINNERS’, the tournament name, and PSG branding. They are covered in a burst of confetti. The general feeling is one of immense celebration.

2. ✍🏽 Words

The headline of the article neatly summarises the situation, indicating that this is the first time they have ever won the tournament. The headline then ends with an exclamation mark. A quick summary above the main article mentions the scoreline, the date, and the history-making win. The article emphasises the importance of the fans, saying that the team was backed by ‘18,000 fans in Munich, and many more in Paris, throughout France and around the world’, before reminding us that this was the ‘55th title’ in PSG’s trophy cabinet.

The first line of the article itself also ends with an exclamation mark, announcing them as ‘champions of Europe!’ Following this is a quick list of their wins as they journeyed to the trophy, including defeating ‘Brest’, ‘Liverpool’, ‘Aston Villa’, and ‘Arsenal’, before overcoming ‘Inter Milan’ in ‘an epic final’. The team ‘added another title to an already historic 2024-2025 season’, making history. Here, as a quick aside, we are told that the team has ‘won 37 trophies since the arrival of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI)’.

Their winning strategy is quickly summarised; combining ‘youth’ with ‘team spirit’. This is further emphasised by the fact that the club is the ‘second-youngest winners’ in the tournaments history, with an average age of only ‘24 years and 3 months’. Beyond this, there are several mentions of player names and efforts in their long, winning journey. Finally, we are reminded once again that PSG have won ‘four trophies this season’, including their national league ‘by a 19-point margin’. Before PSG ‘continue their quest for excellence from 14th June when they travel to the United States for the Club World Cup’, the ‘club’, ‘city’, and ‘country’ will continue to celebrate their European championship win.

The article ends with a long quote from the President of PSG, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, who is also the chairman of beIN Media Group, the president of Qatar Tennis Federation, and is a former professional tennis player.

❓ What it means
Of course PSG is basking in the moment. It’s the end of not only a record breaking season, it’s the achievement that the team has been chasing for at least a decade, if not longer. There is much ink spilled on the several players who have contributed to the win, and the various big wins they have had throughout the season — after all, this is as much a test of a player’s ability on the day as it is the team’s ability through a long season. There can’t be too many exclamation marks!

Interestingly, PSG portrays the Club World Cup as a continuation of their current season, unlike Inter who positioned it as a new season and new beginning. I suspect it’s because PSG would prefer this season never ends. And, just in case you didn’t remember who to thank for all this success, we get Qatar’s contributions bookended to the article. At the top is a tremendous photo of the team celebrating their win with ‘Qatar Airways’ emblazoned on their shirts. At the bottom is a three-paragraph quote from PSG’s Qatari president. And a quick reminder is included in the middle of the article stating that since the Qataris took over, the team has won 37 (out of a total of 55) trophies.

⚠️ Why it matters
Seeing Manchester City raise the trophy back in 2023 would have further lit the fire under the team and the owners. Now they can be relieved that their investment has finally paid off. France has been, in the last decade, a consistent footballing force, with their 2018 FIFA World Cup win, their 2022 runner-up placement (including Mbappé’s hat-trick of goals in the final), and now a French club winning the country’s second Champions League. PSG are now a legitimate European footballing powerhouse.

As for Qatar, where do they go from here? Abu Dhabi-based City Football Group now owns or has a stake in over 15 football clubs around the world. QSI by comparison runs two. And with the onslaught of Saudi Arabia’s sporting investments from boxing to e-sports, Qatar might be forced to expand their focus beyond PSG.

WHAT’S GOING ON? 

Gulf 💰 + other sports = ?

If we were to analyse the data as it is presented, it would mean that Saudi-owned Newcastle United F.C. will win the UEFA Champions League in 2035. However, unlike Manchester City and to a certain extent PSG, Newcastle will have to compete with entrenched and established state-owned teams both nationally and on the continent.

What does this mean for other teams? Lots has been made of state-backed entities outspending other clubs on players, facilities, and marketing. Despite this, non-state-owned English football club Liverpool F.C. won the Premier League this year. And let’s also not forget that several of the richest clubs in the world, in England, Spain, and beyond, are backed by private citizens who are billionaires in their own right.

Will we see more state-owned teams in other sports? Will this influx of capital realign the centres of sporting power? Or will countries put in place stricter criteria to keep national sports national?

The truth, as always, is somewhere in between.
Read widely. Question thoroughly. Decide accordingly.

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ALSO THIS WEEK

• The Indian Premier League, the biggest, most lucrative cricket league in the world, ended this week with Royal Challengers Bengaluru securing their first trophy in 18 tries.

• Bangkok celebrates the fourth Pride Month this month.

• South Korea elected a new president after months of stalemate.

• Nintendo delivered it’s long awaited sequel to the Switch, the Switch 2, to stellar reviews.

Was this forwarded to you? Signpost is a free weekly newsletter analysing what the media says, what it means, and why it matters. It’s free to subscribe. Alternatively, you can add me on LinkedIn.