Are we surprised?
In their quest for global dominance, Paris Saint-Germain broke the bank – well, not quite, because in this case the bank is a bottomless pit – to sign Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.
Bringing the pair to the Parc des Princes was a statement of intent to the rest of Europe, letting the football world know that they plan to be the next super power, both financially and in terms of winning trophies.
But it hasn’t been plain sailing. Neymar in particular has caused divisions within the dressing room, according to reports. Disputes between him and Edinson Cavani over who takes penalties and free kicks were apparently settled by the club paying Cavani a fee to allow Neymar to be on penalty duty permanently.
While Neymar arrived for an earth-shattering €222m, Mbappé is technically on loan from Ligue 1 champions Monaco, and will sign for PSG permanently in the summer for a fee reported to be €160m.
In an interview with L’Equipe magazine, PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot has admitted that Neymar and Mbappé are afforded ‘privileges’, but insisted that it doesn’t bother him and that Neymar is not a negative influence on the dressing room.
“He [Neymar] is necessarily someone who has some privileges. Kylian does, too”, said Rabiot.
“It doesn’t bother me and I don’t pay it any attention. I’m not jealous of either. Neymar doesn’t think of himself as a star. In the dressing room, he’s a very straightforward guy. He could be a bit more arrogant, but that’s not the case at all.”
Rabiot does not go into detail on what those privileges are, but there have been reports that Neymar is allowed to miss some league games, and fly home to Brazil to see his family more often than most footballers would be allowed.
It’s hard to know if Rabiot is being sincere, but going by PSG’s league form – they’re ten points clear at the top of Ligue 1 – everything seems to be going swimmingly.
PSG travel to Real Madrid on Wednesday for the first leg of their Champions League knockout tie and, given the contrasting form of both sides, the visitors are probably slight favourites to proceed to the quarter finals.
