Team Focus: Can Ligue 1 Competitors Keep Up with PSG?

With July not even over yet Paris Saint Germain have already splashed out over €100m this summer on a number of signings which may well change the face of French football next season. In securing the signatures of former Milan duo Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic many are tipping the Parisian club to have sealed the Ligue 1 title before it has even began, and one suspects they are not done spending just yet.

The four new arrivals secured this month have all made the move from Italy, and as well as taking the Qatari owners overall spending tally to over €200m since last summer, they represent a trend in the club's scouting since the mega money came in. Although the influence of manager Carlo Ancelotti is evident, Leonardo's role in player recruitment and his apparent ability to lure targets to the club cannot be underestimated.

With money of course the main attraction for most it seems highly unlikely that any of PSGs competitors will be able to keep up, with any failure to win the league likely to represent one of the biggest flops in modern European footballing history. With Ancelotti inheriting a team that should have been able to triumph last season, the recent additions will spark fear into the rest of the league.

Prior to the signings of the aforementioned Milan pair Napoli's Ezequiel Lavezzi was the first Serie A player to jump the increasingly lavish ship PSG this summer. It is the Argentine's arrival which could have the biggest impact on the current squad, with the €30m playmaker likely to take the place of one of, if not the best of the side's players over the last two seasons.

While Lavezzi became accustomed to playing in behind a lone striker last season, it is unlikely that fellow countryman Javier Pastore will have his playing time restricted too much after signing for €42m last summer. Instead Lavezzi is perhaps more likely to play from the left and in turn replace Nene, who has been fantastic for the club since moving from Monaco. In fact, the Brazilian has picked up the highest WhoScored rating in the last two Ligue 1 campaigns, somehow managing to up an average rating of 7.67 in 2010/11 to a phenomenal 7.92 last time around.

In comparison, Lavezzi's impressive rating of 7.29 seems modest and while the duos’ styles are similar to an extent, Nene's statistics are superior in the main, which many would attribute to the standard of the respective divisions. Despite this, while Lavezzi averaged slightly more shots per game (3 to 2.9) Nene's exceptional 21-goal tally put the Argentine's 6 to shame, leaving the two with hugely contrasting conversion rates of 20.8% (Nene) to 6.5% (Lavezzi).

In terms of assists, the former Napoli playmaker registered one more (12 to 11) but with a player like Ibrahimovic in the side one can't help but think that Nene's total would be substantially higher. The PSG winger created more chances for teammates than any other player in Europe last season (128) and while Lavezzi's respective tally of 74 is still admirable, it again pales into insignificance when compared to his fellow South American.

In terms of crossing, the pair again have similar statistics, with Nene coming out just on top a 25.1% accuracy and 2.3 accurate deliveries per game compared to Lavezzi's respective 24.6% and 2 per game. However, one area in which the new man does come up trumps is his dribbling. With a superb 56.8% success rate from 2.3 dribbles per game, Lavezzi may well be seen to offer a better balance on the opposite flank to the equally tricky Jeremy Menez, with Nene's 46.3% success rate from 1.4 per game some way back.

In central midfield, there will also be a hotly contested battle, this time between significantly more players. The arrival of Marco Verratti from Pescara was certainly not merely an investment for the future. The 19-year old commanded extreme interest from within Italy and, having earned a place in Prandelli's initial Euro 2012 party, set the club back around €10m. Dubbed as the next Pirlo - though the tendency to compare prospects to such talents rarely sees them live up to the billing - Verratti is clearly seen as real competition to the rest of the squad. With last summer's signings Sissoko and Matuidi under real pressure, perhaps the only regular starting berth will fall Thiago Motta's way.

The issue as to whether Silva and Ibrahimovic will slot in as easily is, well, not an issue. Last season's league runners-up have secured the signatures of arguably the best out-and-out striker and centre-back in European football. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was indeed the top rated traditional centre forward by WhoScored last season, with a rating of 8.16 only behind Messi and Ronaldo, while Silva was second to Chiellini in terms of central defenders, with a rating of 7.37.

Their big money moves mean that again, players signed just last year could already become surplus to requirements at the club, with Kevin Gameiro failing to set the world alight up front in particular. Ibrahimovic's goal tally of 28 will therefore be a more than welcome addition, with Gameiro netting just 11 in comparison. The French forward also registered just 2 assists, while Ibrahimovic's enhanced team play saw him average 2.7 key passes per game and pick up 6 assists in turn.

At the back PSG have also had their problems, signing three centre halves prior to Thiago Silva's capture; the likelihood of the Brazilian failing to cement a place is unthinkable. While an average of 1.3 tackles per game is not spectacular, he was dribbled past just 6 times all season, and figures of 3.4 for interceptions per game and a remarkable 91% pass accuracy will ensure that the Brazil international's arrival may be the most telling since the investment came in.

A look at the likely starting XI next season does, however, show that re-enforcements may well be made at full-back, and a back up for Menez on the right could also bolster Ancelotti's already considerable ranks. If the puzzle can be completed this summer, Paris Saint Germain's dominance over French football could well become the strongest across Europe's top 5 leagues, but either way, they'll take some beating next year.