Youth Quality Shines Through in PSG's 4-0 Win over Leicester City

It was one of the biggest issues of Laurent Blanc's tenure as boss of Paris Saint-Germain. All too often he ignored the talented young players the club are producing, and they either left to find more minutes or were farmed out around France.

Unai Emery has only been in charge for four matches, but there are definite signs that he is much more willing to give the younger players a chance, and so far, they haven't let him down.

Against Leicester City on Sunday night, goals from Edinson Cavani, Jonathan Ikone, Lucas Moura and Odsonne Edouard sealed a convincing 4-0 victory over the English champions at a packed StubHub Center in Los Angeles, California. The Spanish boss was delighted with his team's progress.

"We have played three matches against Inter, Real Madrid and Leicester, all great teams," he told the club's official website. He continued:

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I'm very happy for the players and happy with the results, even though they weren't the most important thing. Winning is important for the confidence, to make progress and to create a team. We have done some good tactical, psychological and physical work. And it showed out on the pitch. We played some good football. I'm very happy with the four matches we've played in the pre-season. The season begins next week with very important match. We played with experience even though we fielded quite a few young players. With the new recruits, we're going to have a good team.

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Although Kevin Trapp goes into the new campaign as Emery's No.1, he will be under even greater pressure to perform this season as he will have the very talented Alphonse Areola pushing him all the way.

Still only 23 years old, the Paris-born goalkeeper has been part of the club's setup since 2009, and this finally looks like the year he will get a chance in the starting XI.

He was named as man of the match by the club's website on Sunday and is very happy with the way pre-season preparations have gone so far. The young 'keeper said: 

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We had a really huge training camp, with three good matches. We ended on a high, so we're really happy with what we've achieved here in the USA. We'll head home to Paris very happy. We worked very hard all week, with Nicolas (Dehon), Kevin (Trapp) and Remy (Descamps). There's a great atmosphere and we're making progress together. But the most important thing is that the team gets the results. The collective comes first. I think that we showed that we're ready. We're managing to do in matches what we do in training. That augurs well for what's to come.

"

In front of the shot-stoppers, there have been some excellent performances from the young players brought into the squad for this tour.

Lorenzo Callegari continued his progression with another 28 minutes under his belt. The 18-year-old didn't feature at all last season, but the midfielder has looked calm, composed and has integrated himself well.

There is a fierce competition for places in the new-look PSG midfield, but Callegari has done nothing to suggest he's not up for the fight.

Someone else who didn't feature under Blanc last term is Ikone. He scored a fantastic solo goal against Real Madrid on Thursday and followed that up at the weekend with another impressive performance.

His pace and desire to drive at defenders caused the Foxes problems, and with PSG already 1-0 up through a Cavani penalty, Ikone made it 2-0 just before half-time. His powerful run and link up with Thomas Meunier created his second goal in America.

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L'action complète du but de Jonathan #Ikoné face à Leicester #PSG  pic.twitter.com/EjEANiyzmB

— Paris No Limit™ (@ParisNoLimit) July 31, 2016"

Ikone has that same level of excitement surrounding him that Kingsley Coman had when he was threatening to break through into the first-team. PSG failed to satisfy his demands; it would be a mistake if they let the same happen with another winger.

Contracted until 2019, Ikone's performances will hopefully have done enough to see him win some valuable minutes this season. He offers something the other attackers don't—he's direct and he gets past defenders, qualities that every team dreams of in Ligue 1.

Another player with a good pre-season under his belt is Lucas. Amazingly, still only 23, he is considered one of the senior members of this squad—even being handed the armband when he made his entrance in the 62nd minute against Leicester. It took him just 120 seconds to get on the scoresheet.

Maxwell played in a beautifully fierce cross to the back post, and Lucas was there to head in PSG’s third of the night, putting the game beyond doubt.

"I'm happy with tonight's win, and I'm happy to have scored,” the winger told PSG’s official website after the game. "We're on the right track and we just need to keep it up, as I think we can achieve some great things this season. We showed a lot of desire in these three matches and we scored a lot of goals. The season's about to start now and we're well prepared."

There may not be any pressure on the younger players to perform this term, but there is a level of expectation on the Brazilian. You have to believe this is the year he finally breaks out and shows the world why PSG paid €42 million for him.

His career so far has been OK, just not spectacular. The frustrating part is that he often shows what he is capable of, just not on a consistent basis. A strong pre-season is a great platform for Lucas to shine under Emery once the Ligue 1 campaign kicks off.

The fourth and final goal of the game was scored by another 18-year-old forward, Edouard.

Like Ikone, he was a member of the PSG under-19 squad that reached the final of the UEFA Youth Cup last season, and with a blossoming reputation, he is the centre-forward that many believe is the future of this club.

He scored 15 goals in just 14 games for France's under-17 squad—including eight goals in five matches as they won the 2015 European Under-17 Championship.

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Odsonne Edouard scores against Leicester City (4-0) https://t.co/do17HS1xFx

— /r/soccer video (@redditsoccervid) July 31, 2016"

Technically, as it stands, he is the third-choice centre-forward at the club, and he showed why with his goal, awareness, composure and finishing ability that he has for someone so young.

However, with Jean-Kevin Augustin still to join the group and his struggle for minutes last season, it may take a little longer for Edouard to get his chance. There's little doubt he will be ready when it comes.

PSG now move on to Saturday’s Trophee des Champions curtain-raiser against Olympique Lyonnais, a team known for their youth development. It would be a massive statement of intent if Emery could win the season opener with some of his exciting young stars on show.