Is the PSG Project Floundering or Simply Ready to Enter Next Phase?

For the first time since 2011, Paris Saint-Germain face an uncertain future. 

There are no concerns about the club's long-term viability nor has there been a return of the off-field violence that plagued the club in the years before Qatar Sports Investments' takeover.

There is, though, a question over the direction of the club and the viability of the vaunted project. 

Speaking to the BBC in 2011, then-sporting director Leonardo defined the club's aspirations: "The main project is to be one of the best teams in Europe."

The signings of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Javier Pastore, Marco Verratti and Ezequiel Lavezzi, all within the first year, gave PSG one of Europe's most impressive squads. 

The massive funds injected by the new ownership all but guaranteed the utter dominance of domestic French football that has followed. Thirteen trophies have been won but none in Europe. 

European success has proved more difficult to achieve, and that remains the barometer by which the project will be assessed. 

Many of Europe's top clubs have comparable funds at their disposal, and PSG have been unable to topple them on the European stage.

Four Champions League quarter-finals may be seen as only a qualified success for QSI's hefty return. 

The failure to move beyond that hurdle may have represented the sum total of the abilities of this first generation. 

To that end, Laurent Blanc was dismissed, and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi declared the beginning of a "new cycle," per Le Parisien (h/t ESPN FC). 

Al-Khelaifi cannot pretend that Blanc's exit was simply part of the plan. 

The former World Cup winner had signed a two-year contract extension mere months earlier. His termination was a rapid pivot predicated upon the fourth-consecutive Champions League failure. 

Blanc was merely the first to depart. 

Francois Mori/Associated Press/Associated Press

Ibrahimovic's exit to Manchester United on a free transfer signalled that this truly was an epochal shift for the club. 

No player has been more synonymous with the new PSG than Ibrahimovic. The garrulous Swede rewrote the club's record books, spearheading an unprecedented era of success. 

His 156 goals leave him clear atop the club's goalscoring charts, and his place in PSG's pantheon has been assured for all time. 

His legacy is only reinforced by the uncertainty that has followed his exit.

Lavezzi, he too a mainstay of the club's third great era, also left the club. He joined China's Hebei Fortune in February 2016.

Ibrahimovic and Lavezzi's departures may prove to be just the beginning.

Motta, part of the first wave of star signings recruited following the takeover by QSI, has played a key role in each of 13 titles he has won at the club. 

He confirmed to Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Calciomercato) that he will leave the club at the end of this season, and a move to Valencia has been reported by Barcelona-based outlet Sport. 

Club captain Thiago Silva's contract expires at the end of this season, and he has been linked with a return to former club AC Milan, per FourFourTwo. 

Silva told France Football (h/t MadeinFoot) that he hopes to remain in Paris, but his departure remains a possibility. Should he join the exodus of PSG's foundational players, the club would be suddenly short of leadership and title-winning experience. 

Even Marco Verratti, the 24-year-old diamond of the club's midfield, has been linked with a move away from the club, according to Sports.fr. 

The Ancelotti-Blanc era has been marked by a steep learning curve among a core of star players around whom the club's success has been built. 

This was a group that had to learn how to win, with the embarrassment of Montpellier claiming the title in 2012 firing them to new heights. 

Michel Euler/Associated Press/Associated Press

The loss of so many key players would represent a surrendering of the hard-earned institutional memory of the new PSG. 

Jese Rodriguez, supposedly a key part of the next generation at the Parc des Princes, has enjoyed an underwhelming start. 

He told Le Parisien (h/t ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson) that he has no intention of being a back-up to Edinson Cavani.

A display of petulance after being withdrawn during a drawn match against Saint-Etienne has only added to a sense that the €25 million signing is not working out. 

Stuttering early-season form under new manager Unai Emery suggests that the project is teetering on suddenly weakened foundations. 

Arsenal and Monaco exposed the flaws in Emery's underdone team, and while progress does appear to have been made, questions continue to be asked of the Spaniard.

Carlo Ancelotti, the man who laid the groundwork for this golden era, has defended Emery to Canal+ (h/t ESPN FC's Ian Holyman). 

Ancelotti, himself no stranger to criticism during his time in Paris, told the assembled press: "Everyone is criticised. PSG are criticised, Real Madrid are criticised. You draw a game ... it's a mini-crisis. It's mad! Football is mad!" 

In truth, the project has not yet been fatally wounded. 

Adrien Rabiot, now a full France international, is blossoming under Emery and showing signs of reaching the immense potential he has always possessed. 

Layvin Kurzawa, Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe are in fine form and represent the promise of the next generation. 

Edinson Cavani, as demonstrated in this Bleacher Report "stat story," is flourishing in Ibrahimovic's absence.

PSG also have one of the most effective defences in Europe and have qualified for the knockout rounds of the Champions League with two games to play. 

Nice's lead atop Ligue 1, once six points, has been reeled back to three, and Les Parisiens could move top this weekend should they beat Nantes and other results go their way. 

The project has been weakened over the last six months, but there remains reason to believe that progress can be made in this campaign. 

Emery has won more European trophies in the last three years than Paris have managed in their entire history. 

If the Champions League remains the only prize that will satisfy the club's owners, their tactically astute manager is better suited than most to get it done. 

The old guard have either moved on or are positioned by the exit door, but the young stars are making their presence felt. 

"

Edinson Cavani has found his rhythm early this season—can he follow it up with Champions League glory for PSG? pic.twitter.com/ZbIgTSP87v

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) November 16, 2016"

This is no longer Ibrahimovic and Lavezzi's team, but that iteration wasn't able to break into the true European elite. 

The new PSG could take them through that barrier. 

Next week's trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that this group is made of sterner stuff.