Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 10y

Cabaye: I have to prove myself at PSG

Yohan Cabaye has told RMC he does not know whether he will be able to establish himself as a first-team regular at Paris Saint-Germain this season.

Cabaye, 28, made just nine Ligue 1 starts for the French champions after moving to the Parc des Princes from Newcastle United last January. Given France's run to the World Cup quarterfinals, the ex-Lille midfielder started preseason training later than most of his teammates, and seemingly still finds himself behind Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi in coach Laurent Blanc's plans for a three-man midfield.

Though it did not affect his standing with national team coach Didier Deschamps ahead of going to Brazil, a protracted spell as back-up on the PSG bench could leave Cabaye's international and club career in limbo, and he acknowledged only his performances can help change that.

"It's difficult to know whether I'm going to get more playing time. I arrived six months ago," he said. "Now, I'm going to have a whole season. I haven't done preseason from the start. But my hope is to play as many games as possible. I also have to prove it on the pitch, and that's the only place where I am going to be able to demand something.

"I've prepared myself to play as many games as possible. When I'm on the pitch, I'll give everything. You can count on me. I'm 100 percent committed to the club's project."

The designs of PSG's Qatari owners remain just as ambitious as they did in 2011, when they stated they hoped to win the Champions League within five years. To that end, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) have spent hundreds of millions of euros on squad-building, including an estimated 50 million euros for Chelsea's David Luiz this summer, while also adding Ivory Coast international full-back Serge Aurier on loan from Toulouse.

Blanc will be expected to at least lead his team to the quarterfinals of the Champions League once again this season after narrowly failing to pip Chelsea to a semifinal berth in the last campaign. However, Cabaye warned against overstating the Champions League's significance when PSG have a domestic treble to aim at too.

"It's not the only goal. We have three other trophies to go for, one of which is the league, which is very important," he added. "Last year, we did the double with the Coupe de la Ligue. The aim is to always do better than the previous season.

"It's very difficult to win the Champions League. We're aware of that. But the ambition will be to do better than last season, with added experience and two new players, who will bring us their great qualities. To just focus on the Champions League would be a mistake, I think. The objective is to win as many trophies as possible."

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