Paris St-Germain turn to Capello after failing to secure Villas-Boas

Posted Wednesday, June 19, 2013 by theguardian.com

• André Villas-Boas stays loyal to Tottenham
• Fabio Capello is PSG's fall-back option

Paris St-Germain turn to Capello after failing to secure Villas-Boas
Fabio Capello is Russia's head coach but PSG have reportedly
paid his €3m release clause to secure his services on a one-year contrac

Paris Saint-Germain have turned to Fabio Capello to be their manager next season, after André Villas-Boas resisted their overtures to remain loyal to Tottenham Hotspur.

The French champions have been seeking a replacement for Carlo Ancelotti, who is primed to succeed José Mourinho at Real Madrid, and, after what amounted to a whirlwind trawl of possible candidates, they attempted to lure Villas-Boas from White Hart Lane.

Villas-Boas's representative, Carlos Goncalves, listened over the weekend to the proposals of PSG, who are bankrolled by Qatar Sports Investments, but Villas-Boas did not give them the encouragement that they wanted.

He has said that he wants to enter a second season at the same club for the first time in his short but spectacular managerial career and he continues to be committed to the project at Tottenham. The club, who are ready to announce the appointment of Franco Baldini in the post of technical director, promise to be active in the summer transfer market.

Capello, the former England manager, has been PSG's fall-back option. He signed a two-year contract in July 2012 to manage Russia and he has them set fair to qualify for the World Cup finals in Brazil. But PSG have reportedly paid his €3m (£2.6m) release clause to secure his services on a one-year contract.

There remains the possibility that Capello could return to the international scene at the end of the season to take Russia to the World Cup.

More intriguing is the notion that Capello would be a stop-gap appointment and that PSG will try to tempt Arsène Wenger to the club when his current Arsenal contract expires next summer. PSG's president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, is the general manager of al-Jazeera Sport, the Qatar-owned TV station; he employs Wenger as a pundit and he has a good relationship with him.

Al-Khelaifi tried unsuccessfully to take Wenger from Arsenal in the summer of 2011 and further soundings towards the end of last season once again failed to turn his head. Wenger has always respected his contracts and Ivan Gazidis, the Arsenal chief executive, has made it clear that he wants the Frenchman to sign a new long-term deal at the club.