Paris (AFP)

A mark of confidence: Mauricio Pochettino extended his contract with Paris Saint-Germain for one year on Friday, until 2023, even if he did not fully succeed in his first six months on the bench.

Arrived in January 2021 after the dismissal of Thomas Tuchel, the Argentinian did not manage to win Ligue 1, overtaken by Lille, but he often pleaded the difficulty of taking a team during the season.

In the Champions League, he achieved two great feats, eliminating two giants, FC Barcelona (4-1) and Bayern Munich (3-2, 0-1) before losing in the semi-finals against Manchester City ( 2-1, 2-0).

He won "only" the Champions Trophy, against OM (2-1) and the Coupe de France, against Monaco (2-0), his first titles as a coach.

But this time "Poche" has all the summer preparation to design his team to his idea, impose his game, his style, and set out again to conquer the Hexagonal and, above all, the Cup with big ears that PSG dreams of.

"I am really very happy and I am also for my staff," said the coach in a statement from the club.

He had deliberately remained silent when, once the season was over, some rumors had evoked his desire to leave.

"It is very important for us to feel the support and the confidence of the club and we will do everything to make the fans proud of us," he added.

"We are happy that Mauricio is extending his adventure within the Paris Saint-Germain family," said PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.

"With Mauricio's leadership, we are enthusiastic and confident"

- He would like to keep Mbappé -

To allow him to work well, the president and the sporting director, Leonardo, have already been very active in the transfer window.

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The club has strengthened with a new technical midfielder, Georginio Wijnaldum (ex-Liverpool), one of the best defenders in the world for ten years, Sergio Ramos (ex-Real Madrid) and Gianluigi Donnarumma (ex-AC Milan), goalkeeper of Italy, European champion and voted best player of the Euro.

These three arrived free, and PSG spent around sixty million euros for the ultra-attacking rear of Morocco Achraf Hakimi (ex-Inter Milan), a player quite in the style that Pochettino likes. .

The Argentinian would like to keep Kylian Mbappé, but the world champion, at the end of his contract in a year, has still not extended and the risk that he leaves for the transfer window exists.

Poche will also have to deal with the competition between its very experienced goalkeeper, Keylor Navas (34), excellent for two seasons, and the star Donnarumma.

It should be one of his first big decisions: who will start in goal?

But the big choices will be seen later on the field.

For now, the first friendly matches have especially allowed the young people of the club to showcase themselves, the internationals returning from vacation little by little.

Former PSG captain 20 years ago, Pochettino repeated during his first six months that he measured the demand for result in such an institution.

He has obtained peace on his contract and will be able to go on a quest.

"He shares the values, ambition and vision of the club for the future," assures Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.

© 2021 AFP