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Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) owners are interested in buying FC Barcelona's city-rivals RCD Espanyol, according to Foot en Espagne (via Barca Universal). The aim of the Parisian giants is to topple Barcelona as the biggest club in Spain's second-largest city.
Tensions between the two of Europe's elite clubs have increased in the last few years. It all began when the Ligue 1 outfit signed Brazilian superstar Neymar Jr. in a world-record deal worth around €222 million in 2017.
The Catalan giants also saw their icon Lionel Messi leave to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer last year.
In more recent times, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has questioned Barcelona's finances and their big spending in the summer transfer window.
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Tensions between the two clubs could escalate even further. The Parisian owners are interested in buying a club in La Liga and are already playing to purchase RCD Espanyol.
One of the purposes of PSG owner Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to buy Espanyol is to eventually overshadow Barcelona in La Liga.
It is worth mentioning that Espanyol is currently under the ownership of Chinese toy company Rastar since 2016. The club are currently poorly run, which could open the door for PSG ownership to take over and rebuild the club with their abundance of wealth.
As things stand, Espanyol haven't made the best of starts to the 2022-23 season. They are currently 17th in the standings, having picked up just four points from their opening six La Liga games this season. Diego Martínez's side are currently on a two-match losing run in the league.
Espanyol finished 14th in the league last time around. They were relegated from Spain's top flight back during the 2019-20 season after finishing rock bottom. However, they managed to secure the promotion at the first time of asking.
Lionel Messi finally seems to have settled at PSG following his move from Barcelona in 2021
Lionel Messi finally looks like he is at home at PSG following his free transfer in the summer of 2021. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner had a disappointing first season in Paris, having scored just 11 goals across all competitions.
However, Messi has made an exceptional start to the 2022-23 season. The Argentine forward has registered six goals and eight assists from 11 outings for the Parisian giants across all competitions.
