Neymar plays for the team, Mbappe claims
Behind the flicks and tricks, Neymar is the perfect team player, according to his PSG colleague Kylian Mbappe.
Kylian Mbappe says star Paris Saint-Germain colleague Neymar is not a selfish character, hailing him as the perfect team player.
Since swapping Barcelona for PSG in a world-record €222million move, Neymar has scored 17 goals from 20 appearances in all competitions for the Ligue 1 leaders.
It has not been all about the Brazilian, though, with Edinson Cavani benefitting from a central role to net 25 times at the midway point of the season, while Mbappe himself has 12 strikes to his name.
And the 19-year-old feels Neymar's commitment to the team has been key to their success.
"People on the outside see a Neymar on the pitch, but that's not him," Mbappe told Marca.
"People see him doing tricks and dribbles and think that he is only trying to enjoy himself, that he's selfish and only thinks about himself. But when you share a dressing room with him you realise that it's not the case.
"It's true that he's a very kind person, that he is interested in others. He's very nice, and he plays for the team first.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
"His football is all about dribbling and skills and you aren't going to ask him to stop because he does it very well.
"There's nobody who dribbled like him in this aspect of the game, he's a footballer who can win us titles and we have to take advantage."
With Neymar's move from Barcelona breaking up the 'MSN' front three and Real Madrid's 'BBC' of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo yet to play a minute together this term, PSG's trident of Mbappe, Cavani and Neymar have been touted as the new premier strikeforce.
"Honestly, we don't think about it, we don't think about being the best attack in the world, only the best team in the world," Mbappe said of such suggestions.
"What we want to do is win and be competitive, it's good that we are the best attack in the world, but it doesn't guarantee you anything, it's the whole team that wins.
"It's true that it's good to have a good striker, but you have to win."
‘Maybe I’ll be signed by Wrexham, who knows? English football would suit me – if an offer came, I wouldn’t think twice, I’d go immediately’ Euro 2024 cult hero reveals his UK dream
‘Managing Leeds? It was an option that appeared, but it wasn’t the right timing. I decided it wasn’t a good idea to leave the club I was at mid-season’: Premier League boss admits to turning down opportunity to replace Jesse Marsch in 2023