Homegrown players were a relatively rare sight on Paris St-Germain team sheets until a few years ago.

With the notable exceptions of Mamadou Sakho, Presnel Kimpembe and Adrien Rabiot, the early years of the club's Qatari ownership were spearheaded by high-profile signings from elsewhere.

Some of PSG's most notable academy products in that period, including Kingsley Coman and Mike Maignan, found themselves moving on before having time to make any kind of mark in the French capital.

The club's turn towards French talent in recent seasons, and the end of the so-called "bling-bling" era, has already seen the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue spearhead last year's treble-winning campaign.

Now, PSG are looking to go one further and build around their own homegrown talent, a shift which has been precipitated by an early-season injury crisis.

With Dembele, Doue and Achraf Hakimi among the long-term absentees, there have been as many as five academy graduates - all from the Paris area - on the team sheet this season.

The club's all-encompassing training and academy complex has been key to that strategy. Two years ago, PSG moved out of the Camp des Loges facilities in the western suburb Saint-Germain-en-Laye - which had been their base of operations since 1975 - to the nearby state-of-the-art PSG Campus.

The new facilities, which were officially inaugurated a year ago, host the men's and women's teams along with their respective youth sides over a 59 hectare area. These include 16 pitches, accommodation for 140 young players, educational facilities and even a vegetable garden

Speaking at an event this week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the academy's opening, sporting advisor Luis Campos explained that the club's long-term plans were to involve "more and more players from the Paris area" in the first team.

"The idea is to have players in every age group who can climb the steps," says Campos. In this case, this is the literal staircase of the PSG Campus, with the senior team training at the very top of the four-tier complex.

A clearer path from the academy to the first team can also relieve the club's reliance on the transfer market, the Portuguese executive pointed out.

For Campos, "going to the supermarket often doesn't make you a better cook".

"What's important is to be going in the right direction, not to stockpile players," he adds.

The former Monaco director also recounted a meeting between Luis Enrique and the youth coaches, in which the Spaniard set out his "principles of play" rather than dictating specific exercises or formations to follow.

The Asturian's arrival two seasons ago, Campos says, was notably favoured by "courage to play young talents as soon as they're ready".

Against Barcelona in October, it was Senny Mayulu, who led the line and scored in PSG's unlikely 2-1 victory.

Warren Zaire-Emery, Quentin Ndjantou and Ibrahim Mbaye were also involved in the win over the Catalans, while 17-year-old Mathis Jangeal was on the bench, having made his senior debut a few days beforehand.

Mayulu, who scored the fifth and final goal in the Champions League final victory over Inter in May, has been one of the early success stories of the new direction.

The 19-year-old, a midfielder by trade, notably owes his half-century of senior appearances to his versatility. Having started in every league game since the end of September, Mayulu has been deployed across the pitch, from right-back, to central midfield, to centre-forward.

Yohan Cabaye has been the director of the club's academy since 2024, having initially joined the youth set-up shortly after the end of his playing career.

The former France midfielder speaks particularly highly of Mayulu, pointing to the way he bounced back from injury several times in his formative years.

"When he initially joined the academy, he was struggling to complete full seasons," Cabaye says. "He had such strength of character that he always came back, though."

Zaire-Emery, as the former Newcastle man puts it, is an exception.

"We can't use him as an example, otherwise you'd have 20 16-year-olds knocking on Luis Enrique's door," he says.

Now on his fourth season in the first team, the 19-year-old has been captaining the injury-hit Parisians from an increasingly familiar right-back role.

After struggling through stretches of last season, the French international is rediscovering the explosive form that first saw him break into the senior side.

Having also returned to the French senior side earlier this month, the Paris native explained his stint with the under-21 national team helped him rediscover his confidence.

"I've focused on myself, I've kept going and worked hard," he pointed out before the match against Bayer Leverkusen.

PSG have reaped the rewards, with Zaire-Emery serving as the standard-bearer once again for the new homegrown crop of Parisians.

A key part of making the most of the Parisian talent pool is fending off competition from other clubs.

With a team of full-time scouts covering youth football in the capital and its surroundings, PSG are looking to improve their foothold on the hotbed of talent at their doorstep, from which their domestic and European rivals have long been recruiting.

If youth championship results are anything to go by, PSG will not be short of prospects to promote in the years to come.

The under-19 side retained their league title this past season and have impressed on the continental stage, which has inevitably attracted attention from the outside.

"We often have between 30 and 40 scouts from France and abroad coming to our youth games," Cabaye points out.

It's not been entirely smooth sailing at the European champions' academy, though.

A visit by the labour inspection agency took place at the end of October, which according to L'Equipe highlighted workload and management issues.

This was confirmed by Cabaye, who explained the club had "nothing to hide" regarding the inspection, which he says only highlighted a need for "a bit more communication".

"For me, the most important thing is to be concentrated on our primary mission, which is to be at the players' service. Obviously, the wellbeing of our colleagues is very important to us," he said.

In any case, against Tottenham, the new crop of academy graduates will likely play a pivotal role again.

If the win in Catalonia is anything to go by, PSG's homegrown youngsters are more than ready to step up and contribute to the European champions' title defence.