Former Paris Saint-Germain playmaker Pablo Sarabia has called the French side a team “of individuals” due to the influence of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Mbappe signed a three-year contract extension with the Ligue 1 champions last year, keeping him in the French capital until 2025. That made the Frenchman the best-paid player in world football (since eclipsed by Cristiano Ronaldo joining Al-Nassr) and came less than a year after the French club rejected a world-record transfer offer from Real Madrid for the striker.
Before that new deal, Mbappe’s PSG teammate Messi was the best-paid player in the world. The Argentine’s first year in Paris saw him take home an annual salary of £25.5million (€30m), although this increased to £34million (€40m) for the current and final year of his two-year deal in Paris. It is claimed that Messi has received more than €1,000m throughout his career – more than any other player.
Neymar remains the world’s most expensive ever football transfer after PSG signed the Brazilian from Barcelona for a £199million fee in the summer of 2017. The 31-year-old has netted 118 goals in 173 appearances for the French club but there has been a lingering sense that he has failed to hit the huge expectations that many predicted.
The trio are among the highest status players in world football and their influence at the club and within the dressing room was always likely to be significant. Now, their former teammate Sarabia – who joined Wolves in the January transfer window – has spoken about the lack of team unity in Paris.
Speaking this month to the Telegraph, Sarabia explained: “It was amazing to play with Messi, Mbappe and Neymar. It was a very good experience, but for me the most crucial thing is to feel important in the team.
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“I prefer to play in another team to feel that unity, to be part of it, to be a member of the team and of a family, rather than just an addition of individuals.”
He added, when talking about the difficulty of regular matches at the club: “I was not happy not to play. It’s very difficult to play considering the level of PSG players, so I made the decision to come here (to Wolves).
“In my career I have been through a lot of difficult moments, but now I want to enjoy. I feel that at this moment, I’m in the prime of my career.”
