International

Paris daily paper Le Parisien claim the big-spending Ligue 1 champions will make an approach to take the 35-year-old on loan for the 2015-16 campaign.

Outgoing Barca skipper Xavi confirmed last week that his lengthy association with the Liga titlists would conclude at the end of the current season, and that he has agreed to head to Qatar with Al Sadd.

The owner of Al Sadd is the brother of PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi, drawing comparisons to the shock deal which saw Frank Lampard return to the Premier League with Manchester City for 2014-15 after signing with upstart MLS franchise (and sister club of City) New York City FC.

In September 2014, Xavi laid the groundwork for a move such as his Qatar transfer when he said: "I told the club that I didn’t want to play for another team in Europe; I didn’t want to play against Barcelona."

However that could change if the reported deal becomes reality.

PSG and Barcelona drew each other in the last-eight of this season's Champions League, with Barca progressing over two legs.

Having seen off Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, the Catalonians meet Juventus in the final inBerlin next weekend.

After the fascinating, confusing, downright peculiar coup that was Frank Lampard ending his Premier League career in the sky blue of Man City rather than the royal blue of Chelsea, it was inevitable that similar 'loophole' deals would be considered by other clubs with considerable clout - especially those looking to avoid problems with FFP.

If this does indeed happen, football purists will be displeased with the latest commercial wrangling of their beloved sport. Xavi himself will be going back on direct quotes he made near the start of this season. There's also a chance PSG fans will be deflated that the club are going for a 35-year-old when they wanted Paul Pogba.

But who knows? Bayern Munich were boosted by the presence of veteran Xabi Alonso this campaign. Assuming Laurent Blanc (or whoever's in charge) conducts a style of football which suits the passing flow of a Xavi, as Pep Guardiola did at Bayern with Alonso in the engine room, such a transfer could end up being a masterstroke.

From now on, we'll just be sure not to bat an eyelid when an ageing top-level player moves to a club outside Europe!