Due to ego, the French club PSG often struggled with on-field performances, according to the Brazilian star forward.
Initially, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé had a close relationship at PSG, but this began to fracture after Lionel Messi joined the French club. The Brazilian forward claims that Mbappé was jealous of Messi.
Mbappé made his move to PSG from Monaco in 2017. That same year, Neymar broke the world transfer record by joining PSG from Barcelona. With Barcelona facing financial difficulties, PSG signed Messi as a free agent in 2021. From that point, Neymar says, Mbappé’s behavior started to change.
Neymar recently discussed these issues in a podcast with Brazilian football legend Romário, which was released on Thursday. Romário asked Neymar if Mbappé had ever been annoying, and this was Neymar’s response:
“No, he wasn’t like that. There were things between us, and we did have some small disagreements. But he was the foundation of our team, I used to call him the Golden Boy. I always played alongside him, telling him that he would be one of the world’s best. I would always help him, talk to him a lot, and he would come over to my house, and we’d have dinner together.”
“We spent some great years together as a duo. But after Messi came, he started to get a bit jealous… we had some arguments, and his behavior changed.”
Despite having one of the most fearsome attacking trios in world football with Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé, PSG couldn’t win the Champions League. Neymar blamed the egos within the team for this, though he didn’t specify anyone by name.
“Ego is good to have, but you need to realize that you can’t play alone. You need someone next to you. Ego was present almost everywhere in the team, and nothing can work out like that. If no one runs and no one helps, it’s impossible to win anything.”
None of the three players are at PSG now. Messi has moved to Inter Miami in the United States, Mbappé joined his dream club Real Madrid before this season, and Neymar moved to the Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal.
