5 Paris Saint-Germain players who are on thin ice over the January period

This PSG team is filled with world-class players at every positions, making it difficult for some players to find their way into Luis Enrique's starting lineup, even despite all the injuries plaguing the squad in the first part of the season.

While the club is not expected to make many moves during the January transfer window, some players might be looking for an exit with the prospect of gaining more minutes to feature at the upcoming 2026 World Cup with their respective countries.

Here are some of the Paris Saint-Germain players who might be gearing more towards leaving in January.

1) Bradley Barcola

All right, all right, hear me out. It’s admittedly quite unlikely that the star French winger will move in January, but isn’t there something a little strange about his current situation at PSG? Barcola, who scored 21 goals in all competitions last season, has seemingly been reduced to a bit part player this campaign. In fact, youngsters like Senny Mayulu, Ibrahim Mbaye and Quentin Ndjantou have all frequently started ahead of Barcola in the attacking positions even when Barcola was fully fit (and often the only fit senior attacking player), something that even as recently as in the summer would have been unthinkable.

Barcola has long been appreciated by other clubs, with Arsenal and Liverpool both sniffing around in the summer once Barcola had starting playing second fiddle to Desiré Doué in Champions League games, and the rumours haven’t got any quieter given the Frenchman’s inconsistent playing time since. Bayern Munich are now also rumoured to be tracking the winger, and there is a sense that his value would only further drop were his playing time to continue diminishing. In any case, it will be interesting to see whether Barcola himself begins to agitate for a move over the winter break, or whether he will accept to wait out until the summer at the very least.

2)  Gonçalo Ramos

Similarly, to Barcola, there is a sense that Gonçalo Ramos isn’t exactly trusted by Luis Enrique. The Portuguese player has also had a slightly curious stint at Paris. Moving there off the back of his fine performance against Switzerland in the 2022 world cup, the striker has never truly established himself as a first choice player, although he has scored plenty of goals at various moments, particularly off the bench. Despite his situation, he has been praised by his teammates. Indeed, as a bit part player he’s almost become a fan favourite at the Parc des Princes, with a knack of coming up with goals out of nowhere in closely contested ties.

However, with Ousmane Dembélé now returning to full fitness, meaning he will be starting as a false nine in PSG’s front three, it’s clear that Ramos will be returning to the bench, something that will perhaps push the striker to look for an exit this January. According to Goal.com, Liverpool are hunting for a new striker in the absence of the injured Swede Alexander Isak, and a short term loan deal for someone like Ramos may be on the cards. It could be an option for Ramos so that he could get more playing time before a permanent move in the summer. It’s also worth remembering that this is a world cup year, and that Ramos will thus have more motivation to get minutes over the next six months in order to force his way to the forefront of Roberto Martinez’s thinking.

3)  Lucas Beraldo

The young Brazilian centre-back, who seemed when he first arrived to be almost a natural heir to the lineage of Thiago Silva and Marquinhos at the heart of the Parisian defence, has seen his career stall somewhat over the last couple of seasons, only making eight appearances so far this term.

While no doubt talented, Beraldo also has been error prone over his time in Paris, something that Enrique seems to have eventually noticed, given the signing of Illia Zabarnyi that relegates Beraldo to fourth choice centre back, making him an expendable player of the squad. The Brazilian, who signed for PSG from São Paulo in January 2024, has been linked with a move back to his home country, with Palmeiras reportedly interested.

4)  Renato Sanches

What a promising career Renato Sanches once had. Originally billed as one of the next big things of football after his first breakthrough in 2016, his career stalled for a while before eventually getting back on track in France at Lille. His move to Paris should have been a confirmation of his talent, but instead it’s been a damp squib, with a series of disappointing loans summing up his time in the French capital. His latest, to Greek club, Panathinaikos, could become permanent this January, as PSG are reportedly keen to get Sanches off their books. Were he to leave, he would only ever have played 27 games for the French giants, scoring 2 goals in the process.

5) Kang-In Lee

It’s harsh for Kang In Lee to be on this list, as it is genuinely through no fault of the Korean’s own. He has always been perfectly serviceable when called upon this season, but there is a sense that the Korean doesn’t have a best position, and that all the positions in which he can play, whether in attacking midfield or on the flanks, are also occupied at PSG by better players. Perhaps if Lee does, depart, it would be for his own good, with more consistent game time surely among his priorities ahead of this summer’s world cup.