VIDEO: The academy stars who could have saved PSG millions

Paris Saint-Germain’s latest attempt to win their first Champions League title will see them come up against some familiar faces.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men face Manchester City tonight, the only side in their group without one of their academy products in their squad.

So who are PSG’s nearly men who could have saved them millions in the transfer market? LiveScore take a look.

Christopher Nkunku

 RB Leipzig spent £11million to sign Christopher Nkunku from PSG in 2019.

Only 38 of his 78 appearances for his boyhood club came from the start, yet he still managed to net 11 goals.

But Les Parisians decided they did not have the time to wait for Nkunku — and RB have taken advantage of that.

The 23-year-old scored their first-ever Champions League hat-trick in the 6-3 defeat to City on Matchday 1 and has managed 30 Bundesliga goal contributions across his first two seasons.

Leipzig travel to the Parc des Princes on October 19 and Nkunku will be determined to show his former employers what they are missing.

Stanley Nsoki

Club Brugge left-back Stanley Nsoki has already proven a thorn in PSG’s side this campaign.

The 22-year-old starred against them in Matchday 1 as the Belgians secured a surprise 1-1 draw, making more interceptions than anyone else in a battling display.

Nsoki made eight Ligue 1 starts for the Parisians before moving to Nice in 2019, then up to Belgium in the summer.

Last season he was in the 94th percentile for progressives passes per 90 mins and 95th for blocks — showing he has what it takes at both ends of the pitch.

Now he will be dreaming of putting in a similar display at his former home in December.

Mike Maignan

Another former PSG man already making an impact in this year’s tournament is AC Milan keeper Mike Maignan.

The Frenchman was snapped up by AC this summer after Gianluigi Donnarumma’s move to PSG.

Despite Milan’s 3-2 defeat to Liverpool, Maignan saved a Mohamed Salah penalty and frustrated the Reds throughout.

That will come as no surprise to PSG after Maignan, 26, was part of the Lille side who lifted the Ligue 1 title in 2020-21.

With the second-best save percentage in Serie A this term behind Atalanta’s Juan Musso, the French side will be hoping to avoid another meeting with Maignan in the knockout rounds.

Kingsley Coman

Kingsley Coman is the ultimate example of the one that got away for PSG.

The winger departed Paris as an 18-year-old in 2014 after a handful of appearances — and has gone on to win a league title in every season since then.

After two years at Juve, he moved to Bayern Munich and has been part of the Bundesliga’s dominant side since then.

To rub salt in the wounds, he scored the only goal of the game as Bayern beat PSG 1-0 in the Champions League final in 2020.

And his stats last year show the 25-year-old is only just getting started — he notched 10 assists, made the third most carries into the box (47) and the fourth most progressive carries (200) in the Bundesliga last season.