Khelaifi fuels PSG's novel dream in titanic shadow of power

Club's president has a deep sphere of influence and travels to Arsenal desperate for Champions League vision

- Nick Ames Matt Hughes

Nasser al-Khelaifi watches from the Emirates Stadium directors' box tonight; he can reflect that Paris Saint-Germain may be a month from the latest monumental victory of his career. Champions League success has been a long time coming, given the plan of Qatar Sports Investments had been to reign Europe within five years of its takeover in 2011, but the fresh sense of clarity in PSG's approach is on the verge of reaping rich dividends. The serial Ligue 1 winners could soon sit atop club football just as their president rules it from the corridors of power.

Khelaifi is, in the words of one seasoned observer, "the most powerful person in sport that nobody has heard of". That oversight is probably true of a British public to which his influence is yet to cut through. If nothing else the Qatari should receive a more amenable welcome at Arsenal than the one afforded in November by fans of Bayern Munich, who seemed well versed in his various functions when PSG visited.

"Minister, club owner, TV rights holder, Uefa exco member & ECA chairman all in one?" read a banner on the Südkurve. Another accused Khelaifi of being a "plutocrat". The intention was to highlight, in terms for which Bayern later apologised to Khelaifi, the problems inherent in the sheer breadth and depth of power he has come to grasp. Barely a critique of Khelaifi passes without mention of his multiple functions.

At the heart of most rancour is the "double-hatting". This phrase was central to the independent commission judgment that ruled the Premier League's associated party transaction rules were unlawful after a legal challenge from Manchester City. The commission referred to the Premier League as "double-hatting", which it described as "acting as both the regulator of a sporting competition, such as football, and engaging at the same time in economic activity by, for example, the sale of media rights".