Could European giants Paris Saint-Germain join Sheffield's junior leagues... and why?

But PSG insist they aim to work with, not against, English clubs.

Juventus, Man City, Benfica, Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon and Borussia Dortmund have also spread their wings into English junior football.

PSG’s presence in Sheffield takes in two of 15 "partnerships" including one of six exclusive PSG "hubs" in England and Wales, two of 50 countries their academies are based in.

It is not hard to understand the Steel City's appeal. Sheffield coded the laws of the game, has the world's oldest club (Sheffield FC) and England's second-oldest professional club (Sheffield Wednesday), its oldest ground (Sandygate) and oldest major stadium still hosting professional football (Sheffield United).

The region that produced Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Millie Bright and Beth England does not have a Category One academy, though Sheffield United hope to change that soon.

PSG insist they are not here to steal talent but open new avenues in football and education, whilst supplementing other academies.

"For a (British) player to join PSG he has to be 16 years-old," Paulo Pereira, technical director of PSG Academy UK tells The Yorkshire Post. "Due to Brexit, it can often change to 18. It's very difficult for a player who is 18 to play for such a big club as PSG without already being tied up with a Premier League club.

"We have players in Milton Keynes who play for MK Dons and Tottenham Hotspur. They still play for us as they feel we can improve them."

General manager Becki Turner insists: "We are only giving an insight into a different style of football, a different perspective that could elevate their game. If they are in a school environment they will get a lot more.

"Not at any point are we walking into an area, talent-ID-ing players and saying we're going to persuade you to play for us and only us.

"We work with elite players by chance. We have players across the country who had never kicked a football before but love PSG, and players who enjoy sport as a bit of fun but see the opportunities.

"Our education partnerships provide face-time with students – between six to 10 hours a week depending what the partner would like – alongside an A-Level or B-Tech. Not all students are interested in playing football, not all of them are interested in a sports qualification.

"We have a player development programme which is essentially an hour, hour-and-a-half training session once a week for children aged eight to 16, we've got a 36-week block with students of all abilities. We also have residential camps, summer camps, Easter, half-term camps for players of all abilities and our main go-to at the moment is educational partnerships for post-16 students.

"On a monthly basis there is a new international club mentioned as starting up over here but they don't tend to give a taste of everything. I'm not saying we're better, we're just us. We're flexible to suit our partners and it's a completely different reason for each one."

Doncastrian Josh Clark is an A-licensed coach who has worked in America and Qatar but for the last two years has been PSG Academy UK's head of Yorkshire/Derbyshire running a programme from Mount St Mary's independent school in Spinkhill, Derbyshire, but open to other students too. Another has recently been set up at Fir Vale School.

"The idea is to build enough players to enter teams in the JPL and give all the players that may not be at academy level the ability to experience what it could be like," explains Clark. "Even though they're not elite players they'll get the opportunity of elite coaching and we're more likely to create partnerships with the likes of Sheffield United or Doncaster Rovers. But most are there to be better and get that holistic approach.

"We want to be able to open it out to the whole community so everyone can join no matter whether they can afford to go to a private school or how good they are at football.

"Sheffield has plenty of JPL teams and academies but I think we can offer something different – PSG methodology, a neutral club in England. We want to offer opportunities within all age groups across Yorkshire.”

The idea is to teach The PSG Way.

"A lot of clubs prepare players on the technical side but PSG teach the players very young more about the tactical side," says Pereira.

Clark believes “It can only be good for football in Sheffield, for the standard at Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday because they'll have a bigger talent pool. It's an option for those who miss the academy net, but also those who aren't as good to play and get an education."

So if not to uncover Champions League players, why are PSG here?

"We're a business, we're not a football club here in the UK and the key is to grow," argues Turner. "We're coaching 3,500 players this year and we hope for five or six thousand next year. Why not provide opportunities educationally through football?

"I see us working with more non-league clubs and growing hubs like Sheffield."

It sounds like they are here to stay.