When considering what the PSG club has accomplished as a new-look side under Luis Enrique, Aston Villa and others can and should feel emboldened. Yes, PSR is a constraint, and the likes of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé leaving the Ligue 1 side at the time made it feel like the better days were behind them.
The outcast players of Vitinha and Ousmane Dembélé ended up playing a crucial role for PSG, outclassing and completely outperforming (most of) the rest of Europe.
How Enrique has developed and molded this squad to be team-oriented and without the usual egos one would expect from a Champions League-winning side is something to marvel at. For Villa, it can provide reassurance that things are progressing in a positive direction for the club in B6.
What Enrique and Unai Emery are doing within their respective roles is the ultimate antidote to the top six in the Premier League and European giants elsewhere in the sport. That is not to say that PSG did not also receive a huge amount of financial assistance. After all, they did at one point have Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé.
Since Enrique took over, however, that mindset has shifted. Now, watching PSG march up and down the field against Inter Milan and Arsenal, they are playing the most collaboratively of any of the known powers in the sport, and their youth suggests that it will not be a short stay at or near the top either.
Will always be a goal for Aston Villa and others to strive for
Something similar has been and continues to be in the works for AVFC under Emery. The same need to get rid of super egos was not present when the Villa manager took over. Instead, the emphasis is more on building a roster that can compete with the best in the Premier League and manifest a genuine belief in Villa to achieve at high levels, despite more recent history indicating otherwise.
Developing a sense of team is a continuous endeavor, and even when achieved, as is currently the case at PSG, it takes work to maintain the needed environment. This, along with what Emery is developing within his squad, is the counter to big brand bias and the advantages that others are afforded.