Neymar claims that Kylian Mbappe was “jealous” of Lionel Messi during their time together at PSG, with an ego war breaking out in the French capital.

There was always the threat of that happening once Paris Saint-Germain made it their mission to assemble a super team made up of some of the best players on the planet. Neymar and Mbappe joined that project in the summer of 2017, with Argentine icon Messi arriving four years later.

A fearsome front three did savour Ligue 1 title triumphs together, but Champions League glory proved elusive. Neymar, who endured his fair share of injury struggles in France, claims that Mbappe was not the best team player once Messi – who is now at MLS side Inter Miami – arrived at Parc des Princes.

Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer told countryman Romario on his ‘De Cara Com O Cara’ podcast: “No, he (Mbappe) is not (annoying). I have my things with him, we had a little fight, but he was fundamental for us when he arrived. I used to call him golden boy. I always played with him, said he was going to be one of the best. I always helped, talked to him, he came to my place, we had dinner together.

“We had some good years of partnership, but after Messi came he was a little jealous. He didn’t want to split me with anyone. And then there were some fights, a change in behaviour.”

Neymar saw his working relationship with Mbappe speculated on at regular intervals during his time in France, with the South American superstar adding on personality clashes: “It is good to have egos. But you have to know that you don’t play alone. There needs to be another guy by your side. (Big) egos were almost everywhere, it can’t work. If nobody runs and nobody helps, it is impossible to win anything.”

Neymar left PSG in 2023 when following the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to the Saudi Pro League, as he linked up with Al-Hilal. Mbappe, meanwhile, has become another ‘Galactico’ at Real Madrid after finally completing a switch to Santiago Bernabeu in 2024 that had been speculated on for some time.

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