PSG youngster could be on the move as links to Premier League clubs persist

PSG youngster Ibrahim Mbaye, who has scored once in 25 appearances across all competitions this season for Paris Saint Germain, has been linked with a move away from the French capital this summer, after a downturn in gametime following the return to full fitness of France international Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué, both of whom play on the wing just like Mbaye.

Ibrahim Mbaye linked to Aston Villa move

The youngster finds himself in a similar predicament to that faced by Senny Mayulu, another academy starlet who this season has been integrated into the first team by Luis Enrique. Both of the young French attackers are exciting prospects and had plenty of game time over the first half of the season, when PSG were plagued by an extraordinary injury crisis, but now that this crisis has resolved, both Mbaye and Mayulu have found themselves with fewer minutes.

The young winger could thus be tempted with a move away, perhaps to the Premier League, and to Aston Villa, who are currently under the tutelage of former PSG boss Unai Emery, a wily tactician whose impact has dragged Aston Villa into regular European contention. The issue for Mbaye is that even were he to make the move to Villa, it’s hardly a club where regular gametime would be guaranteed, with players like Morgan Rodgers, Leon Bailey and Emi Buendia all potentially ahead of him in the attacking pecking order, not to mention Jadon Sancho, should he sign permanently for the club based in Birmingham.

It’s a difficult choice for Mbaye, as although he will perhaps not get much gametime were he to stay at PSG next season, the prospect of involving alongside world class players, under a world class manager at the club he has been at since the age of 10, must be a tempting one.

Mbaye’s talents were recently on display for the world to see as he featured in the Senegal squad that won the African Cup of Nations (although their victory has since been controversially stripped from them following their poor sportsmanship in the final), scoring in a 3-1 win over Sudan in the last 16 of that competition.

Overall it must be tempting for Mbaye to look elsewhere at this moment in time, as he could feature more prominently for a mid-table Premier League club, perhaps making a real name for himself. It is also uncertain whether PSG would be open to selling Mbaye this summer, especially if Mayulu also leaves, as it would be a shame for the Parisians to lose two promising academy prospects in the same transfer window.