Nasser Al-Khelaifi will celebrate 800 games as Paris Saint-Germain President when the French champions host Nantes on Wednesday.

The 52-year-old Qatari was appointed on November 4, 2011, shortly after Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) bought the club for just €70m. 15-years later, PSG’s enterprise value is worth close to €5bn.

And under Luis Enrique’s guidance, PSG are now on course to defend their inaugural Champions League title, having reached the semi-finals of the competition for the third straight season this campaign.

The current period of success has not been achieved via big-name stars, with the club instead moving away from so-called ‘Galacticos’ like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe or Neymar and prioritising a youth and France-focused strategy capable of delivering silverware while also keeping PSG sustainable.

PSG’s project is in many ways now grassroots driven, which is why the impressive €300m PSG Campus in Poissy is seen as so important.

“From young boys and girls in the Academy, to men and women in the first team, we want good footballers, but also players to be educated with PSG values,” said Al-Khelaifi at its unveiling in November 2024.

“Today, what you see is the result – an amazing sports facility and a classroom. The future of Paris Saint-Germain will be born and built here, not bought.”

Phase 1: QSI buy PSG

PSG’s evolution under Al-Khelaifi has seen three distinct phases. The first saw QSI purchase the club in June 2011, originally acquiring a 70% stake from American investment fund Colony Capital before buying the remaining 30% a year later.

QSI inherited commercial revenues of just €99m in 2010/11 compared to €837m in 2024/25 and faced a Parc des Princes without its ultras, who were banned by former president Robin Leproux following the death of supporter Yann Lorence outside the stadium in 2010.

Al-Khelaïfi made it one of his first priorities to restore the unique atmosphere to the Parc des Princes. And on October 1, 2016, the ultras returned as 44,949 watched PSG beat Bordeaux 2-0. It followed months of constructive talks between Al-Khelaifi and then Parisian police chief Michel Cadot as well as other stakeholders.

PSG are now on a record run of 186 consecutive sold-out home matches since 2017, and have a 99% season ticket holder renewal rate.

Phase 2: The Galacticos Era

Part of what got bums on seats and turned the PSG brand global was undoubtedly a star-led approach towards recruitment. PSG has spent around €2.1bn on transfers under QSI with only Chelsea investing more (€2.8bn) over the same period.

A world-record fee of €222m was paid to Barcelona for Neymar in summer 2017, while Kylian Mbappe cost around €180m from Monaco a year later.

Lionel Messi was another high-profile signing, with the Argentine World Cup winner arriving at the Parc des Princes on a free transfer from Barcelona in August 2021.

Messi earned around €30m per-season during his time in Paris, but PSG sources maintain he was a profitable signing due to the revenue his brand generated for the club.

All three signings are an example of PSG opting for star power to boost their brand while at that point still going in search of an elusive Champions League title. Edinson Cavani, Angel Di Maria, Mauro Icardi, Thiago Silva, Zlatan Ibramovich and David Beckham were also signed during QSI’s ‘Galacticios’ era, yet all had to settle for domestic honours.

PSG was frequently criticised during this period for their lack of success in Europe. Yet these established names still provided a return on investment. PSG became a globally followed club because of them and is now present in around 100 countries with 14 club stores, 180 international supporters’ groups and 209 Academy training sites.

PSG’s socials have surged from 500,000 in 2011 to over 235 million today and the club estimates that 39% of its audience is currently under the age of 24.

Young audiences haven’t only been drawn in by names like Messi or Mbappe. PSG’s football-first partnership with Jordan is one novel example away from the field of how the club has positioned itself as a fashionable brand that transcends sport.

All of this has also benefited PSG’s bottom line. The club’s valuation reached €4.25bn in 2025, while matchday revenues hit €175m in 2024/2025, a seven-fold increase from 2010/2011.

Meanwhile, commercial revenues have increased 25-fold since 2011, reaching €281.9m. And since 2011, QSI has invested over €2bn in the club and created around 2,400 full-time jobs.

Phase 3: Youth-Led Approach

Summer 2023 saw a shift in strategy, around a year before the PSG Campus opened. Messi left the club on a free transfer and headed to Inter Miami and Neymar was sold to Al-Hilal for around €80m. Neither player was replaced with big-money signings.

Instead, Hugo Ekitike joined from Reims for €30m – a relatively modest fee given he would switch to Liverpool last summer for almost three times this figure last summer.

And Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Randel Kolo Muani and Lucas Hernandez were all signed as PSG made a concerted effort to buy French. More broadly, PSG has focused on signing players from the French market with approaching €200m in fees paid.

In addition, Marco Asensio and Milan Skriniar were both snapped up as free agents, with the latter another strong example of Al-Khelaifi’s disciplined approach in the market. Negotiations for Skriniar had been ongoing over three windows, with Al-Khelaifi personally handling talks and refusing to be baited by Inter’s €70m asking price. Instead, the PSG President played a waiting game and ended up securing Skriniar for nothing.

The following summer, Mbappe would leave for Real Madrid under a cloud, having assured PSG he wouldn’t depart on a free. Al-Khelaifi and the club considered Mbappe’s word legally binding and so withheld part of his salary and bonuses that they considered waived. An employment tribunal disagreed and PSG were ordered to pay Mbappe €60m.

Yet sources reveal PSG were glad to see the back of Mbappe as they focused on youth and building a team under Luis Enrique defined by chemistry and collective identity rather than individual egos.

Al-Khelaifi, working closely with sporting director Luis Campos, would oversee a further squad revamp following Mbappe’s departure.

Around €230m was spent on goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, defender Willian Pacho, midfielders Desire Doue and Joao Neves and winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. And PSG’s new hungry additions delivered in their first season as the club won the quadruple, including their first ever Champions League title, thrashing Inter 5-0 at the Allianz Arena last May. Doue and Kvaratskhelia were both on the score-sheet.

Winning the Champions League with the third-youngest squad in Europe – behind only Chelsea and Strasbourg – was not just impressive, it also rid the club of its ‘nearly men’ moniker. And it would now be no surprise if PSG defend their Champions League title this season with a two-legged tie against Bayern to look forward to at the end of April.

Phase 4: Stability, Silverware and Enrique Extension

The buzz words for phase four and beyond are very much ‘stability’ and ‘success’. Al-Khelaifi is the longest-serving PSG President at 5,283 days in charge and counting, and sporting director Campos and head coach Luis Enrique remain committed to the project.

Enrique, who joined in July 2023, is contracted until 2027 and GMS understands an agreement in principle on a new contract is now close to keep him at the club until 2030. There are no doubts within PSG over Enrique extending, it’s just a matter of timing whether it occurs during the season or over the summer.

Enrique is settled and despite links with Manchester United, the former Spain and Barcelona boss has never seriously considered a move away from Paris.

“Three years ago, when I joined, I found a club with the will to win everything,” said Enrique ahead of the Nantes game this evening. “The sporting direction at the club is at a very high level. For me, it’s almost a perfect combination. I wish the President many more matches in his role.”

Infrastructural stability is equally as important as PSG continues to evolve and modernise. The world-class PSG Campus is naturally a big part of that and is already paying dividends via the likes of Warren Zaïre-Emery, Senny Mayulu, Yoram Zague and Ibrahim Mbaye who, at 16 years, six months and 23 days became the youngest player in PSG’s history when he featured against Le Havre in August 2024.

Last season, PSG were the youngest squad to win Ligue 1 – based on the average age of the 15 most frequently fielded players (23 years, eight months) – ahead of Nantes in 1976/1977 and Monaco 1999/2000. And PSG is also the second-youngest in history to win the Champions League (24 years and four months) behind only Ajax in 1994/1995.

The next infrastructural goal is to secure a new stadium given PSG only rent the 47,929-capacity Parc des Princes. The club is not prepared to fund €500m in proposed renovations to the stadium if only a tenant.

Al-Khelaifi had faced opposition from former Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo over PSG buying the Parc des Princes leading to new stadium sites being throughly explored. Yet Hidalgo’s successor, Emmanuel Grégoire, is more open to a sale, meaning staying at the Parc des Princes is still possible. PSG will only do so as owners.

Should a deal not be agreed, PSG has viable options to build a new stadium near their Academy in Poissy or relocate to Massy, Essone, 15km south of Paris, where a site for a 90,000-seater stadium is available. A decision on PSG’s stadium is expected by summer 2027 at the latest.

Shareholder stability has also been achieved at the club despite incorrect suggestions QSI had an exit plan for PSG following the 2022 World Cup. Since the tournament in Qatar, QSI has actually doubled down on their PSG investment as well as broadened their wider portfolio.

Arctos Partners bought a stake of up to 12.5% in PSG in December 2023, valuing the club at over €4bn. The US private equity firm, who own stakes in NBA sides Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings, are viewed as a hands-on strategic partner and are one of the key voices behind PSG’s stadium plans.

QSI also purchased a 21.67% stake in Portuguese side Braga, who have reached the Europa League semi-finals this season where they will face German side Freiburg. And last December, QSI announced the acquisition of the Belgian second-tier club Eupen from the Aspire Zone Foundation.

In addition, QSI has championed padel, judo, handball and esports and, according to sources, are in active and positive talks with NBA Europe over founding a Paris-based basketball team.

Al-Khelaifi, who is also chair of the newly-rebranded European Football Clubs, remains a vital part of both PSG and QSI’s wider sports goals.

PSG were recently named the Laureus World Team of the Year at an awards ceremony in Madrid on Monday. It follows six titles won in 2025 – including their first Champions League title. Al-Khelaifi again used the occasion to reiterate PSG’s project is ultimately about cultivating a shared vision at every level of the club.

“It’s about the strength of our collective,” he said. “At Paris Saint-Germain, the real star is the team, both on and off the pitch.

“We are also very proud to represent Paris, French football and France on the international stage, using the power of sport to bring people together and make a positive impact.”

Al-Khelaifi is now on course to hit 1,000 games as PSG President in 2030, by which point the hope is the club can be as dominant in Europe as they are already in France.