Sporting's William Carvalho Would Be Perfect PSG Replacement for Thiago Motta

Paris Saint-Germain’s wantaway midfielder Thiago Motta made his first appearance of this pre-season during the French champions’ 1-1 International Champions Cup (ICC) draw with Chelsea in Charlotte on Saturday.

The Italy international came on at half-time at Bank of America Stadium and stepped up to score PSG’s first penalty in the shootout, which they eventually lost 6-5 to Jose Mourinho’s men.

Since the start of the summer, the Ligue 1 giants have been trying to persuade Motta—a key player in coach Laurent Blanc’s eyes—to remain at Parc des Princes for the final 12 months of his contract after he made it clear following his arrival for pre-season training that he wants to leave Paris.

Following his first bit of preparatory action against Chelsea, the 32-year-old reaffirmed his desire to leave Les Parisiens before the end of the current transfer window and this time even openly acknowledged that he wants to join Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid next.

Although PSG’s president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, is expected to attempt to again try to change Motta’s mind in early August, once the squad are back in France after their North American tour, it looks increasingly likely that the former Internazionale man will not be playing a key part in the capital club’s bright future.

Is Motta worth PSG making a big fuss for at this stage to try to persuade him to stay? Not really.

The Italian defensive midfielder remains an important figure, both as one of the team’s leaders and a key tactical element in Blanc’s starting XI, but there is no hiding that last season was a far cry from his brilliant 2013-14 campaign and injuries have once again caught up with the once-fragile star.

At 32 years of age, Motta is not the youngest of players and realistically has little to offer PSG past the end of this coming term.

Add in the fact that the player has expressed his desire to leave—worryingly citing a lack of motivation in his current surroundings—and it becomes clear that this is a fight the Ligue 1 champions should be considering admitting defeat in. It simply is not worth keeping a player who has already gone to great lengths to stress that he is unhappy in Paris.

If Motta does eventually leave PSG before the end of this transfer window, the French capital outfit will be faced with a number of potential options. However, it is likely that PSG’s situation will ultimately boil down to two alternatives.

Either a replacement is bought and added to Blanc’s squad in the Italian’s place or Le President moves David Luiz out of central defence and into midfield, as he did last season at times when Motta was unavailable through injury or suspension.

This would create a guaranteed starting XI role for Marquinhos alongside captain Thiago Silva and should arguably be the club’s first choice.

However, PSG appear to have put their faith in the Luiz-Silva partnership at the heart of the defence—at least for now—so the likely move following a potential Motta departure would be to acquire a replacement.

That target is already being worked on, according to the Express’ Ben Jefferson, with Sporting CP’s William Carvalho the player believed to be being lined up by Les Parisiens in case Motta departs.

The 23-year-old Portuguese midfielder is reported to have a hefty £32 million minimum fee release clause, and he is also currently out for the best part of three months with a stress fracture in his tibia.

However, that is not thought to be enough to deter PSG from jumping to the front of the queue for his signature.

Carvalho, already a senior Portugal international, impressed for his country at this summer’s UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the Czech Republic and was one of the main reasons why they were able to go all the way to the final before being beaten by Sweden on penalties.

The Sporting man missed from the spot, but one fluffed penalty kick—albeit an important one—does not make a bad or overrated player, and Carvalho was a monstrous presence in the Portuguese midfield throughout the entire tournament.

English Premier League sides Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have all been linked with the player in the past, and it is easy to see why, but with Motta pushing for an exit, PSG were under pressure to settle on a contingency plan.

They appear to have found the right one in Carvalho, and the Portuguese youngster would be the best possible replacement for the wantaway Italian, if Blanc decides against moving Luiz into midfield permanently.

Two of Motta’s main functions in the PSG midfield are to control the tempo and flow of games, dictating the pace of the play with his metronomic distribution, and breaking up the opponents’ attacks.

No adversaries got any change out of Carvalho in the Czech Republic, and although he does not possess the same technical skill set as Motta, the Sporting man is no bumbling oaf, either.

If the youngster was paired with the sublime techncial talents of Marco Verratti and the irrepressible nature of the all-action Blaise Matuidi in Blanc’s preferred three-man midfield, PSG would possess a good mix of strength, technical brilliance and dynamism, with the potential to develop further.

The trio might lack a bit of forward thrust from time to time, but if Carvalho were to come in, such a dependable physical presence would enable Matuidi to indulge his offensive instincts a little more and join the attack with greater regularity.

Depending on the outcome of PSG’s pursuit of Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria as well, Javier Pastore could even be a regular part of any midfield unit this coming season in order to accommodate the former Real Madrid man’s talent.

Carvalho might not be an exact like-for-like swap for Motta, but there are genuinely few players in the game who can offer the same package that the Italian does.

Replacing Motta will no doubt be a hard task for PSG, one of the hardest that the ambitious Ligue 1 giants have been faced with so far, but Carvalho is perhaps the best young defensive midfielder out there, and he’d be a good fit for the French champions’ vibrant project as well.

Bleacher Report is Official Media Partner of the International Champions Cup North America.