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Kylian Mbappe ‘Didn’t Even Honor’ Lionel Messi at PSG; Claims Insider

Originally posted on Real Madrid CF on SI
By Apratim Banerjee | Last updated Jun 29, 2025 6:58 PM ET

Kylian Mbappe is now Real Madrid's leading attacker. After joining the club as a free agent from PSG last summer, the Frenchman has already scored 43 goals and provided five assists in 56 appearances.

He ended the 2024-25 domestic season as the La Liga top goalscorer with 31 goals from 34 matches. Before Real Madrid, Mbappe had a historic PSG spell and left the team as their top goalscorer.

During two seasons of that stint, he played alongside Lionel Messi, with Brazilian superstar Neymar also in the team. They formed an all-star attacking trio, however, it didn't flourish as much as expected, especially in European competitions.

One insider has now claimed that Messi had a distant relationship with Mbappe and the French superstar didn't honor the Argentine when the latter won the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Messi's Argentina defeated Mbappe's France via penalties in the final of the competitions.

The insider recently told French outlet L'Equipe (h/t Daily Mail):

He didn’t have one good moment in Paris. He couldn’t go out. He found himself in the middle of the Neymar-Mbappe 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.

At Barcelona, everything went through Lionel Messi. Whereas at PSG, Kylian Mbappe was the focal point of the Qatari project. Messi was nowhere near as successful at the Ligue 1 club.

He left in 2023 for MLS side Inter Miami and Mbappe moved on after a year in 2024 to Real Madrid. Despite them moving on with their careers, reports from their PSG spell as teammates still shake up the Soccer world.

This article first appeared on Real Madrid CF on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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