PARIS (AP) — When Kylian Mbappe took center stage again for Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League this week, it must have been a rather strange feeling for Neymar.
Returning from his latest injury, the world’s most expensive player was among the admirers as Mbappe slalomed through Real Madrid's tiring defense for yet another last-gasp winner.
It was the kind of goal Neymar once scored for fun. It was also a symbolic moment.
Because with Neymar a peripheral figure, and record seven-time Ballon d'Or winner
The only snag is his contract expires in June and he can leave for free, after PSG had rejected Real Madrid's offer of 180 million euros ($205 million) last summer.
“Reste!” (Stay!) screamed the front page of newspaper Le Parisien, while sports daily L'Equipe dedicated a double-page spread Thursday showcasing Mbappe's outrageous statistics before doing the same to dissect Messi's unexceptional ratio from penalties of 103 goals from 133 shots.
With Messi playing below his best, the 23-year-old Mbappe has largely carried the team during a season in which
Still, Mbappe's continued rise is parallel to Neymar's stagnation.
When he
Neymar had
If the 30-year-old Neymar plays at Nantes on Saturday, it will be his 81st league appearance from a possible 177 matches since he joined — just 46 percent of the games.
Despite this, he signed a bumper new deal amid much fanfare last May,
By which time, Mbappe could be long gone.
For all the global appeal Neymar's image has generated, PSG may well regret making his new deal a top priority instead of focusing on
If Mbappe does leave, PSG would lose arguably the best player in the world and be left with an injury-prone forward whose best playing days are arguably behind him.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
