Leonardo blames PSG management for Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé results

Speaking with Brazilian newspaper Globo, quoted by RMC, the former PSG sporting director, Leonardo, has blamed the club’s treatment of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé for the average results of the Paris team headed by the forwards in the last two seasons.

When asked about the disappointing seasons the trio spent together in Paris, Leonardo suggested that the team’s lack of success, especially in Europe, wasn’t do to with “ego” and that players with “that level of talent… solve more problems than they create.”

Leonardo, who was part of the management team that signed Messi for PSG, then in his second spell as a director, explained that it was down to the club’s leadership to help the players “feel good”, have a sense of “recognition” and “be in a good state of mind”. The suggestion being that this was not the case over the last two seasons for ‘MNM’.

Questioned on his compatriot Neymar’s move to the Saudi Pro League last month, Leonardo was indifferent, referencing his own transfer to Japanese club Kashima Antlers in 1994 during his mid twenties, which he described as arguably a “questionable decision” but it became a “wonderful thing”. The former Brazilian international and PSG player said that Neymar is very capable of maintaining his form and importance in Saudi Arabia, “he just has to want to.”

Adam White | GFFN