Messi, Mbappe, Neymar: PSG hurtling towards nightmare scenario

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 27 Feb 2023 08:32 GMT
• 4 min read

PSG do not need it, but they were given a devastating reminder of the attacking talents of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi on Sunday as they dismantled rivals Marseille 3-0 away from home to finally take a stranglehold on Ligue 1.

It was a match that was unlocked by the superstar pair, who combined directly to score all three goals in what was a blistering display of their attacking capabilities.

For the opener, Messi’s through pass was expertly converted by Mbappe. Minutes later, the World Cup winners combined for the second, with the Argentine dispatching Mbappe’s lovely square pass – calling it a cross would make it sound crude – from six yards. The masterpiece waited until the second half, when the Frenchman volleyed home his colleague’s scooped pass.

Kylian Mbappe: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23

But PSG would be well advised to enjoy these talents while they still can; in the summer, there is the prospect they could lose both.

That Les Parisiens need to cut their wage bill is not news, though The Times offered a remaindered on Sunday that PSG may well need to release at least one of their superstars in order to adhere to Financial Fair Play.

The club may have little say in who goes. Messi is out of contract at the end of the season and being courted by Inter Miami, Mbappe only has 16 months left on his deal and is the world's best player at present, while Neymar, the one they would surely be most willing to part with, still has four years left to run on his.

Lionel Messi at PSG: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23

Messi, Mbappe, Neymar: Who will leave PSG?

And this is where PSG’s headaches begin. They can only have a limited say in Messi’s future while retaining Mbappe will once again be complicated after they somehow fended off Real Madrid to tie him down for two more years last May.

Neymar is expendable, but who would can afford the €222 million superstar and pay him the type of wages that would see him accept? Chelsea might, but it’s holding out slim hope to bank on one club that is already packed with (admittedly misfiring) attacking talent.

The Brazilian’s behaviour in recent weeks has been inflammatory.

Hours after the Champions League loss to Bayern Munich, he was out playing late night poker and was pictured with friends eating fast food. This seemed a direct provocation aimed at Mbappe, who said that PSG’s players had to eat well and sleep well before the return leg.

Relations between the two men have been strained. This will not have helped.

Yes, Neymar is the player that PSG would most like to get rid of but the only one that they appear certain to keep. This is their nightmare scenario and it is edging closer to reality.