Neymar snubs Mbappe as PSG ready record-breaking pay-off
FT Desk
- 20 Oct 2022 01:28 CDT
- 3 min read
Neymar has reignited his feud with Kylian Mbappe with a Ballon d'Or dig whilst PSG are reportedly ready to give the Brazilian the biggest redundancy package in football history.
Neymar and Mbappe have been at odds in recent weeks and months, as they have on-and-off for much of their five years together in the French capital.
Neymar joined in a world record €222 million move from Barcelona in 2017, the same summer as Mbappe arrived on loan from Monaco before making his deal permanent in 2018 for €180m - a word record fee for a teenager.
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Neymar is known to have ribbed Mbappe in their early days at the Parc des Princes, nicknaming him 'Donatello' due to his supposed likeness to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, but the younger man has overtaken the Brazilian in prominence since.
Mbappe's new contract, signed in May in spurning Real Madrid, gave the Frenchman an unprecedented say in the sporting direction of the club, and he reportedly wanted Neymar gone this summer.
Ballon d'ignored
Mbappe finished sixth in this year's Ballon d'Or voting, meanwhile, with his France international teammate Karim Benzema taking the prize. Neymar's response was telling.
"Benzema deserved it," he posted on Twitter. "But for Vini [Vinicius Junior], being 8th is not possible. He should at least be in the top three."
Mbappe's name was conspicuous by its absence. The slight comes at a time when PSG are reportedly readying a deal to pay Neymar out of his contract, with a redundancy package of around €300m according to Spanish daily newspaper El Pais.
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"The club's plan, they tell [Mbappe], is to secure a loan or even find an extravagant exit route," they write. "'Here they have been studying for months how to pay Neymar the highest settlement in the history of sport, about €300 million,'" says an employee of the Paris club."
Chelsea and Juventus were lined up as possible destinations for Neymar in the summer, but he stayed and has contributed a team-high 12 goals and nine assists in all competitions this season.
