Video footage has emerged of Kylian Mbappe appearing to ignore Neymar during a pre-season training session following on from reports of a fallout between the pair.
PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi recently cast doubt upon the Brazilian's future at the club by claiming that they are 'no longer counting' on him. Neymar's long-term PSG attacking partner Mbappe opted to sign a three-year contract extension with the Ligue 1 champions last month.
One of the most noticeable aspects around Mbappe’s new contract were the reports that claimed Mbappe would hold great sway in the club’s sporting decisions as part of his new deal. It has now been suggested that the striker’s sway over the futures of players at the club may now impact on Neymar.
A report from Mundo Deportivo highlighted how Mbappe and Lionel Messi were conflicted over the future of Neymar, with Mbappe suggesting that Neymar’s lack of discipline should be punished by the club while Messi believed that the Brazilian – his close friend – was too important for the club from a sporting standpoint and due to his status within the dressing room.
Video footage, which has gone viral having been filmed in February and now shared by Mundo Deportivo, shows a training exercise at PSG where Neymar appears to awkwardly ignore Mbappe when the two were supposed to carry out an exercise by holding each other. This pause causes disruption to the team movement, with a training assistant having to intervene so that the exercise continued.
French daily outlet L’Equipe say of the situation: “They (Neymar and Mbappe) no longer have much in common and the world champion (Mbappe) does not hesitate, in private, to make fun of his attacking partner. Mbappe would not find anything to complain about in the event of a Neymar exit during the next transfer window and his managers have been notified of this.”
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The status of Neymar is somewhat unusual as he recently had a clause in his contract extend his stay in Paris through to 2027. This is despite PSG boss Al-Khelaifi, when asked about the player's future in Paris, saying last month: "Neymar part of the new project or not? We can't speak about this in public as some players will arrive, some players will leave the club. These are private negotiations."
Neymar has been involved in just 92 Ligue 1 matches across five seasons and his status within the dressing room has declined due to Mbappe outperforming him and Messi’s arrival, reflected in the fact he is now the club’s third highest earner – despite still holding the record of the world’s most expensive ever player, following his switch in 2017.
