Sergio Ramos instructed Neymar to show respect to Paris Saint-Germain’s decision to keep Kylian Mbappe as the club’s main penalty taker.
Ramos had to step-in and break up the two feuding superstar forwards in the PSG dressing room following a Ligue 1 clash against Montpellier in August. Mbappe and Neymar fell out over the order of penalty takers in the match as the fractious relationship between the two came to light.
Mbappe did not convert the side’s opening penalty but he was unhappy that Neymar took the second spot kick during the game, which he converted. PSG boss Christophe Galtier moved to tackle the issue head-on by staging a first-team meeting in which the two were rebuked and apologised, while Messi acted as a mediator to help quell the ongoing discontent.
The fallout did not stop there, as Neymar went on to 'like' two social posts that slammed Mbappe over the episode, including a post that said the Frenchman "controlled" the club. That comment was within the context of reports claiming that Mbappe would hold great sway in the club's sporting decisions as part of his new three-year contract extension with the Ligue 1 champions.
A deep delve into the relationship between Neymar and Mbappe has been outlined by French media outlet L’Equipe, who highlight that the pair share a fractious relationship with both having to listen to various teammates to quell their discontent with each other.
Ramos is highlighted for his role, in which he is said to have instructed Neymar to respect the structure that was in place with the club and accept that Mbappe was first choice penalty taker, while he would be first-choice in games which the Frenchman was not featuring or if the team got more spot kicks in the game.
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The Spaniard is said to have taken this upon himself in the morning after that clash against Montpellier, as PSG boss Galtier and football advisor Luis Campos took a backseat – with the leaders in the dressing room, including Marquinhos, having to assert their authority.
Adding much-needed discipline to the PSG dressing room has been a priority for the new regime at Les Parisiens, with former boss Mauricio Pochettino and Director of Football Leonardo perceived to have failed in this respect.
Ramos, for his part, has enjoyed somewhat of a transformation of fortunes at PSG after 18 months of injury troubles. The former Real Madrid captain started just eight Ligue 1 matches last season, but has already featured in seven starting line-ups to date this campaign and appears to have overcome his fitness issues.
