Lille's Garcia criticises PSG's foreign fixation
Lille coach Rudi Garcia on Thursday welcomed Paris Saint-Germain's signing of Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic but lamented the fact they have not sought to sign more French players.
PSG presented Ibrahimovic to the media on Wednesday after he completed a 20 million euros ($24.5 million) from AC Milan to become the latest member of the growing foreign legion at Parc des Princes.
PSG are likely to begin the season with only one or two French players in their first-choice starting XI and Garcia believes that, for all the excitement their signings provoke, their lack of local identity is a shame.
"On a sporting level, it's very good for Ligue 1 -- you saw the media hype it generates," he said at a press conference at Lille's Luchin training base.
"But I'd be a bit annoyed to only line up with foreign players because we're in France and I think that, although PSG are putting a great team together, it's like they're saying there aren't enough great players in France, and that's not true."
©2011 AFP
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