Neymar considered that the powerful PSG, in which he played alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, failed due to the players’ egos and stated that the French star was jealous of his good relationship with the Argentine star.
“You have to know that you don’t play alone, that there’s someone else by your side. ‘I’m the guy’, that’s fine, but who’s going to give you the ball?”, said Ney in an interview with former striker Romário in the painting ‘De Cara com o Cara”, published on YouTube on Thursday night (17).
“It was everyone’s ego. One game was one, another, the next, four, five games in a row, so it couldn’t work. Nowadays, if nobody runs and nobody helps each other, it’s impossible to win,” said Neymar.
The number 10 of the Brazilian team, now 32 years old, shared the PSG dressing room with Mbappé and Messi between 2021 and 2023. Although the trio generated a lot of expectations, they failed to win the European Champions League, a big bet for the French club.
At the end of the 2023 season, the Brazilian left for Saudi Al-Hilal and the Argentine left for Inter Miami. The two became friends during their time at Barcelona (2013-17), where they formed a fearsome attacking trio alongside Uruguayan Luis Suárez.
Furthermore, in Paris, Neymar had problems with Mbappé.
“I have my ‘business’ with him, we had a little fight. He was a boy who in the beginning, when he arrived, was fundamental. I joked, said he would be one of the best, helped, talked. He would come to my house, the we went out for dinner”, said Neymar.
“We had good years of partnership. But then, when Messi came, I think he got a little jealous. I think he didn’t want to share me with anyone. Then the fights and changes in behavior started,” he added.
The greatest scorer in the history of the Brazilian team stated, however, that he had his best sporting moment with the Parisian team. That level would have allowed him to win the Ballon d’Or, he assured, but his recurring injuries ended that dream.
“These are injuries that take me off the field for three, six months. So, that’s what hurt me,” he argued.
“It’s obvious that every player wants to be the best in the world and have a Ballon d’Or at home. But it’s not something that will end my life, that I’ll be like ‘Wow… I didn’t win the Ballon d’Or. God I wanted it that way and it’s over, let’s go”, added the star.
Physical problems also hampered his time at Al-Hilal, where he played seven matches in 16 months.
The international press speculates that he will leave Saudi football at the end of his contract, which ends in June.
Although he said he is happy in Saudi Arabia, Neymar stated that “in six months everything can change.”
