Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe has played down the reports of a feud between him and his teammate Neymar. The 23-year-old also gave his views on the blackmail controversy involving Paul Pogba from the past week.
The Frenchman has described his relationship with Neymar as “sometimes colder and sometimes warmer”, amid reports of an ongoing feud between the pair. The two seemed to clash recently on and off the pitch on the topic of penalties and who was responsible for taking them, but Mbappe has played down rumours of a rivalry between the two, saying he respects his teammate.
“It is my sixth year with Neymar. We have always had a relationship like this, based on respect, sometimes colder and sometimes warmer. I have great respect for him and his influence on the team.”
PSG play Juventus midweek for their first European tie of the season. When quizzed who between him and Neymar would take the spot kick should one be awarded, Mbappe claimed that a consensus hasn’t been reached yet.
“I don’t know, we’ll see. We have to see how it goes during the match. Being first-choice doesn’t mean you’re going to take all penalties. You have to know how to divide the cake,”
he said.
Mbappe was also drawn into a controversy last week involving Juve midfielder Paul Pogba and his allegations against his brother Mathias, which claimed that the latter was part of a blackmailing scheme against the former.
Mathias took to social media to refute the claims before declaring that his brother had hired a witch doctor to put a curse on Mbappe, which Paul later denied in a statement. Mbappe, when asked about the same, said that he believes Paul.
“Today I prefer to believe the word of my team-mate. It is his word against the word of his brother, I am going to believe my teammate,”
Mbappe said.
A police investigation is ongoing after Paul claimed of an extortion scheme against him.
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