PSG: Galtier and Mbappe at the heart of a controversy
Christophe Galtier joked about the use of private jets by footballers on Monday in front of the press, on the eve of the Champions League match against Juventus.
At PSG, the highest spheres were deeply annoyed by the exit of the technician and the reaction of Kylian Mbappé at his side.
Paris Saint-Germain wanted to clarify a few points after Christophe Galtier’s unfortunate release on ecology on Monday in a press conference, on the eve of the Champions League match against Juventus at the Parc des Princes (9pm on RMC Sport 1).
“He wanted to do a pirouette on this extra-sporting issue,” explains a source within the Paris club. Even though he expected the question (as he himself said), Christophe Galtier missed his humor, which came at a time when Emmanuel Macron was asking the French to limit their heating consumption this winter. According to our information, the highest levels of PSG were deeply annoyed by the irony of the coach.
Several travel criteria
Within the club, it is explained that there are about twenty-five trips to prepare per season. And that each trip is studied through several criteria, with the aim of putting the athlete in the best conditions to perform on the field.
These criteria are: the cost of travel, travel time, accessibility, safety, potential disturbances to public order and environmental aspects. And most of the time, given these criteria, the train is not preferred.
Galtier takes the subject “very seriously”
The environmental criterion, given the current context, will become more important in the future. “The coach is not in charge of the travel management, but he takes the subject very seriously, like everyone else at the club,” adds this internal source at PSG.
The French champions also recall that they went to Lille by car three weeks ago. It could be the same for future trips to Auxerre, Troyes or Reims, but nothing has been done yet.
PSG talks with SNCF
Paris Saint-Germain also explains that exchanges have been taking place for several weeks with the SNCF, which seeks to recover the travel market for sports teams: “There is no taboo at PSG on the train. But at the moment this means of transport does not meet our criteria.”
Apart from Christophe Galtier’s answer, Kylian Mbappé’s attitude, which burst into laughter when she watched her coach, also angered internally. A scene that comes a few weeks after the 23-year-old star refused to accept team marketing from France for ethical reasons. Earlier in the year, the tricolor striker snubbed an appointment with Blue sponsors. “He crashed. He took it lightly,” the club said, according to RMC sport.
