Neymar had a chat with Romario in which he spoke about his difficult adaptation and subsequent departure from Barcelona (‘the escape of the century’), his talks with Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou and his relationship with Kylian Mbappe at Paris Saint-Germain.
After Messi arrived at PSG, he (Mbappe) was a little jealous. And then there were some fights, a change of behavior
Neymar to Romario
“Mbappe is not boring. I have my things with him, we had a little fight, but he was fundamental for us when he arrived. I called him ‘Golden Boy’. I always played with him, I said he was going to be one of the best. I always helped him, talked to him, he came to my house, we had dinner together,” the current Al Hilal player explained to ‘O Baixinho’.
Mbappe joined PSG from Monaco in 2017, the same year Neymar moved from Barcelona to PSG in one of the biggest transfers in football history.
One day I got so desperate that I started crying. Then Messi knocked on the door…
Neymar to Romario
Neymar revealed on Romario’s show Mbappe’s alleged jealousies at PSG after Messi’s signing: “We had some good years together, but after Messi arrived he (Mbappe) was a bit jealous. And then there were some fights, a change of behaviour.”
Neymar uncovers the ego wars at PSG: “If no one runs and no one helps, it’s impossible to win anything”
Regarding PSG’s repeated failures in the Champions League, despite its big-money signings, Neymar believes that the French team did not know how to control and channel the egos of its stars: “It’s good to have egos, but you have to know that you don’t play alone. There has to be another guy next to you. There were big egos almost everywhere, it can’t work. If no one runs and no one helps, it’s impossible to win anything.”
The day Neymar cried and Messi helped him adapt to Spanish football
Neymar, who played for Barcelona from 2013 to 2017, told Romario about his tough start in Spain: “I arrived at Barcelona when I was 21 or 22 years old, I had just won the Confederations Cup against Spain. I didn’t feel confident enough to play there. It was six months without being able to dribble anyone, doing everything wrong.”
Messi told me that he was there to help me and that I should play the football that I played at Santos, without pressure
Neymar to Romario
But a talk with Messi helped Neymar overcome the pressure and adapt to the demands of Barcelona.
“There was one day when I was totally desperate, I went to the break of the match against Athletic very angry, I started to cry. Then Messi knocks on the door and asks me why I’m crying, I told him it was nothing, he said he was there to help me and that I should play the football I played at Santos, without pressure. He said I could count on him. After that, I started to arrive with more confidence, more excited and things started to work out,” recalls the Brazilian.
Neymar reveals why he decided to leave Barcelona… despite Messi’s promise
Neymar explained the ambitions that led him to leave Barcelona after four great seasons in which he won eight titles.
“My motivation was not to win individual awards… I didn’t follow that thought, to be honest. I didn’t leave Barca with the idea of being the best in the world. In my last week in Barcelona, Messi asked me: ‘Why are you leaving? Do you want to be the best in the world? I’m going to make you the best in the world’. But it wasn’t that, it was other personal things. Of course, economically PSG was much better than Barcelona and there were Brazilians playing there (Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Daniel Alves and Lucas) and they were all my friends. I took a risk, but it wasn’t with the idea of being the best in the world,” he revealed.
Neymar: “The Ballon d’Or is not something that ends my life”
Neymar, who does not hide his ambition to try to win the Ballon d’Or, did not hesitate to admit that his best moment as a footballer was at PSG: “My peak, my best moment was at PSG. Playing as I did at PSG, I would definitely win the Ballon d’Or. But I had these injuries, they ended up hurting me. It is obvious that every player wants to be Ballon d’Or. But it’s not something that ends my life.”
Neymar (32 years old), who is on the radar of several MLS teams, did not rule out returning to Brazilian football when his contract with Al Hilal Saudi ends.