Juventus attacker, Angel di Maria, has suggested that Paris Saint-Germain overlooked Lionel Messi before giving Kylian Mbappe all powers at the club.
Di Maria, a former PSG teammate with Messi and Mbappe, feels the Parisians gave the France international too much burden of responsibility by offering him a bumper contract last year, turning a blind eye to the Argentina captain.
Recall that Mbappe was close to joining Real Madrid last summer upon the expiration of his contract with PSG.
However, the French Ligue 1 champions offered him a fresh deal which made him the world’s highest-paid footballer star.
This was before Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed it after his move to Al-Nassr in December 2022.
Speaking to ESPN Argentina, the former Manchester United winger said (via GOAL):
“I think France, in general, have given [Kylian] Mbappe a lot of responsibility. The people, the president, PSG. They made him stay when he could’ve left and gave him all the power to be him and no one else.
“But there is a big difference, they gave him all that power with the best in history [Lionel Messi] next to him.”
He continued: “I think they gave him all that power and strength because he is French, he was born there, won a World Cup and has an extraordinary career ahead of him. But all that aside, when I was at PSG, he was a good boy and I don’t think he has changed so much.”
