Former French international Robert Pires spoke to Le Parisien about Bradley Barcola, Paris Saint-Germain’s 22-year-old winger. He spoke of the young player’s management and the arrival of 23-year-old Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli to compete with him.

Pires “A player like Barcola, it’s all very well to play him, but you also have to manage him”.

“A player like Barcola, it’s all very well to play him, but you also have to manage him. When you’re thrown into the deep end and you’re playing one match after another, you wear yourself out. When you’re young, it’s not easy. You have to play him and then rest him. It’s all about management. I don’t know if we did the right thing in his case. Perhaps that’s also why, today, he’s paying physically for having played a lot.

He joined PSG last year when he was just 20. It’s not easy to manage championship and Champions League matches for PSG at such a young age, plus the French national team.

Pires: “The coach has to be good at what he says”.

Can Kvaratkshelia’s arrival upset him ?

It’s not easy, in fact it’s complicated. I knew him at Arsenal, but I was older and more experienced. Arsène Wenger took Sevilla FC attacking midfielder José Antonio Reyes at the winter mercato (in January 2004).

After that, it’s up to the coach to explain why you’re looking for a particular player. The coach has to be good at what he says. Paris wants to win Ligue 1 and go far in the Champions League, so if you go out and get a player like that, it’s because you think he’ll bring you added value and competition.”

Competition is important in top-level soccer. A player who’s struggling must be able to compete. Barcola is young and the arrival of Kvaratskhelia can only strengthen him. What’s more, the two players can also play together on the pitch. We’re well aware of the quality of the two players, and inevitably, the young Frenchman may see this as a slight regression.

At first glance, it’s difficult to recruit in your position, but if you look closely, Paris needs good players everywhere on the pitch, and in sufficient numbers. Barcola was quick on the uptake, and is quickly criticized when things aren’t going so well. Leaving the pressure on the new Georgian arrival could give him a boost.