Paris Saint-Germain
Campos: Donnarumma’s exit driven by wages as PSG shifts to merit-based pay
Campos: Donnarumma’s wage demands forced PSG into a sale; club moving to bonus-led contracts. New era
Paris Saint-Germain strategic adviser Luis Campos has attributed the club’s decision to put Gianluigi Donnarumma up for sale this summer to salary demands as much as tactical choice. Donnarumma confirmed his own departure as early as Aug. 12 after being dropped from the first-team squad in favour of summer recruit Lucas Chevalier. The Italy international said that “someone has decided that I can no longer be part of the group” shortly before manager Luis Enrique accepted responsibility, explaining he wanted “a different profile” of goalkeeper.
Campos framed the episode as a financial recalibration. Donnarumma had entered the final 12 months of his PSG contract and extension talks had so far proved fruitless. “The club is more important than anyone else,” Campos told RMC Sport. “That’s changed at PSG. Donnarumma, it was a combination of circumstances that led to this decision. When he asks for a salary at the level of PSG before, not the current PSG…”
The adviser went on to describe how the club is moving away from high guaranteed wages toward agreements with significant performance-related bonuses. “Our policy is very much based on merit: you earn more when you deserve it, and when you play,” he said, adding that the club had “took time to discuss the Gigio issue. We were obliged to find solutions if we couldn’t reach an agreement with him.”
Donnarumma’s agent Enzo Raiola disputed the sequence of events from his client’s side, saying the goalkeeper did accept a lower salary during negotiations last season only to see the club “change the rules of the game.” Talks were reportedly postponed until after the Champions League final, when PSG “confirmed their desire to continue,” before the club altered its position in early August.
Campos was firm that the new approach is universal. “The salary policy applies to everyone,” he shrugged. The club’s explanation frames the transfer decision as the intersection of contract timing, renewed wage policy and squad planning rather than a single tactical judgement.
Barcelona
How the 2025 Ballon d’Or List Reshaped Player Rankings: Winners, Risers and Fallers
Dembélé wins 2025 Ballon d’Or; major ranking shifts include Vitinha, Cole Palmer and several fallers
The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony produced notable upheaval across the men’s rankings, with Ousmane Dembélé claiming the main prize for the first time and becoming just the sixth French player to win. The winner had never been shortlisted for the award until 2025. On the women’s side Aitana Bonmatí secured a third-straight Ballon d’Or Féminin, matching Lionel Messi as the only other player to win the Ballon d’Or three times in a row. First-time winners in the women’s game for the Kopa, Yashin and Gerd Müller awards were Vicky López, Hannah Hampton and Ewa Pajor.
Comparing the 2024 and 2025 shortlists highlights large movements. Cole Palmer rose from 25th to 8th for Chelsea, an increase of 17 places. Vitinha moved from 27th to 3rd for PSG, a jump of 24 spots. Several players who were unranked in 2024 entered high positions in 2025: Ousmane Dembélé (PSG) to 1st, Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) to 4th, Raphinha (Barcelona) to 5th, Achraf Hakimi (PSG) to 6th, Pedri (Barcelona) to 11th, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG) to 12th and Scott McTominay (Napoli) to 18th.
There were sizeable declines as well. Rodri (Man City) and Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) fell off the 2025 shortlist entirely after seasons disrupted by injury. Rodri, notably, was on crutches when he accepted his 2024 award. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) dropped from 2nd to 16th, Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) from 3rd to 23rd and Erling Haaland (Man City) from 5th to 26th. Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan) moved from 7th to 20th, Florian Wirtz (in his final season at Leverkusen) fell from 12th to 29th and Phil Foden dropped off the shortlist.
Other active players who did not return to the 2025 list include Dani Olmo, Ademola Lookman, Martin Ødegaard, Federico Valverde, William Saliba, Antonio Rüdiger and Nico Williams. The reshuffle underlined how form, fitness and club trajectories altered perceptions between the 2024 and 2025 shortlists.
Bayern Munich
Five voting shocks from the 2025 Ballon d’Or
Dembélé won but voting produced surprising placements for Olise, Van Dijk, Neves, Kvaratskhelia and
The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony delivered one predictable outcome and several contentious placements. Ousmane Dembélé took the prize, but voters’ decisions further down the rankings produced clear surprises.
Olise’s drop to 30th felt unjust. He recorded 34 combined goal contributions in the Bundesliga and Champions League, played a leading role in Bayern Munich’s return to the top of the German league and has become an influential figure for France. Given those facts, finishing 30th and, as some put it, “collecting the wooden spoon” on the night did not reflect his season.
Virgil van Dijk’s position also raised eyebrows. After his recovery from a serious knee injury he returned to top form, missed just one game and helped Liverpool to a second Premier League title while the club boasted the second-best defensive record in Europe’s strongest division. He was the only centre back shortlisted. Many questioned whether 27 players had genuinely outperformed him over the year.
Vitinha’s podium finish was understandable; he combined club success in the Champions League with Portugal’s summer achievements. Still, teammates Fabián Ruiz (24th) and Neves (19th) seemed undervalued. Fabián supplied the decisive Champions League semifinal goal against Arsenal with a fierce strike, while Neves, “the smallest man on the pitch,” headed the go-ahead goal against Manchester City in Paris on the penultimate matchday to complete PSG’s turnaround.
Kvaratskhelia’s January move shifted Napoli’s profile. Antonio Conte adapted his Napoli side to a 4-3-3 and the winger registered eight Serie A goal contributions in 15 starts before transferring to Paris, where he slotted quickly into Luis Enrique’s system. Observers referenced his nicknames, ’Kvaradona’ and ’Kvaradinho’, reflecting the immediate impact he had on PSG’s Champions League run.
Finally, Pedri’s omission from the top ten surprised many. A season largely free of major fitness setbacks allowed him to evolve under Hansi Flick into a midfield operator who can dictate and create. For a player in a Barcelona team that finished 2024–25 with three trophies, a place outside the top ten felt harsh.
Olise transfer interest intensifies as Liverpool join Chelsea and Manchester City in chase
Martinelli backs Gyökeres to hit 30-40 goals with Ødegaard supplying the creativity
