Lionel Messi believes PSG ‘protected’ Kylian Mbappé | OneFootball

The reasons for Lionel Messi’s (38) “bitterness” towards his former club, Paris Saint-Germain, are multiple. Chief among them is a sense that his teammate at the time, Kylian Mbappé (26), was “protected” by the club, whilst he was the subject of fierce criticism from the PSG fan base, especially towards the end of his time.

Messi left PSG in the summer of 2023 upon the expiry of his two-year deal. There had been rumours throughout his final season that his contract would be renewed, however, the final nail in the coffin proved to be his unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia in May 2023. The World Champion was sanctioned and, despite an apology and a re-integration into the first-team set-up, the relationship had turned sour.

Since, Messi has criticised PSG on several occasions, revealing his unhappiness during his stint at the club. Someone close to the player at the time has now told L’Équipe of the various gripes that contributed to what Messi has since described as a “difficult” moment in his career.

“He didn’t have one good moment in Paris. He couldn’t go out. He found himself in the middle of the Neymar-Mbappé rivalry. He even felt that the club protected the Frenchman and didn’t even honour his World Cup title. In Barcelona, he was a God. He was used to taking his kids to school, the sun… it was a lot of things combined,” they said.

Messi, towards the end of his time at PSG, was booed by the Parc des Princes crowd. The Inter Miami forward will face his former club in the FIFA Club World Cup this weekend.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle