Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and David Beckham are among some of the most notable former Paris Saint-Germain players to congratulate the club on claiming a first ever Champions League title.
In search of elusive European glory, PSG made Neymar the most expensive player in history by triggering a €222 million ($251.9 million at the current rate) release clause in his Barcelona contract in 2017. Mbappé soon followed, initially on loan the same year and later signed permanently for €180 million ($204.3 million) from Monaco.
Beckham, meanwhile, ended his playing career with a four-month stint at PSG in 2013, at a time when the club had Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thiago Silva and Marco Verratti among their ranks.
Mbappé and Neymar were eventually joined in 2021 by Lionel Messi, who arrived as a free agent when his Barcelona contract expired. But even with three all-time greats lining up together, PSG still couldn’t make it happen in the Champions League.
It took the work rate-first approach from coach Luis Enrique and a willingness to walk away from big-name superstars, in favour of young, hungry talent, to finally deliver the continental success PSG had been searching for since the day Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund took over the club in 2011.
Messi left in 2023 when his two-year contract expired. Neymar was sold to Al Hilal for big money that same summer, while Mbappé ran down his contract to join Real Madrid last year. Ángel Di María had also earlier been sold in 2022, and Sergio Ramos and Marco Verratti went in 2023.
But despite watching his home city team becoming European champions so soon after leaving, while his new club floundered by exiting at the quarterfinals, there was no bitterness from Mbappé, who was quick to offer his public congratulations.
“The big day has finally arrived, victory and in the style of an entire club. Congratulations PSG,” Mbappé posted as an Instagram story.
There was a similar reaction from Neymar, who wrote “congratulations” in response to a video of PSG’s trophy lift from compatriot, former teammate and club captain Marquinhos.
At the time of writing, there has been no social media acknowledgement from Messi, but the Champions League final was played only shortly before his Inter Miami faced, and beat, Columbus Crew in MLS regular season action.
As for Beckham, he posted an Instagram caption and photo that read: "History made. Congratulations @PSG, WOW what an incredible game."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, David Beckham React to PSG History Makers.
