Kylian Mbappe is said to be upset that Lionel Messi is close to Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain as the club are reportedly on the brink of crisis following the latest high-profile fallout.
Mbappe and Neymar fell out over the order of penalty takers in the team during the Ligue 1 clash against Montpellier this weekend, after the Brazilian did not allow his teammate to take PSG's second spot-kick after the Frenchman had seen his first effort saved.
So bad was the tension inside the dressing room that experienced defender and former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos was reportedly forced to step in to separate the feuding pair – as cracks reappeared, in spectacular fashion, within the squad.
There is reportedly an element of rivalry between Mbappe and Messi at the Parc des Princes relating to the status of Neymar while multiple reports last season outlined the depth of the dressing room split in Paris – with Mbappe believing Messi's friend lacks discipline and is damaging to the club.
A constant theme in recent years of the PSG dressing room is a lack of discipline and meaningful leadership at the club.
Mbappe opted to sign a three-year contract extension with the Ligue 1 champions earlier this summer, with reports claiming that the striker would hold great sway in the club's sporting decisions as part of the agreement to extend his stay at the Parc des Princes. Indeed, the appointment of new sporting director Luis Campos could be linked to Mbappe as the pair know each other from their time together at Monaco.
However, a report from Goal explains that Mbappe is already feeling frustrated that he does not have the power at the club that he had assumed, with the influence that Neymar had over both Messi and Sergio Ramos – the two other heavyweights in the dressing room – said to be a source of discontent.
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The fallout of the weekend's incident has continued subsequently with Neymar 'liking' two social posts that slammed Mbappe over the episode. The first post included the sentence: "After the game, the coach said that Mbappe will be the team's main hitter for the season. An absurdity." In the second post 'liked' by Neymar, the Frenchman is accused of being "the owner of PSG."
There was a significant off-field change at PSG this summer with the appointment of Campos to replace the outgoing Leonardo as sporting director, while Christophe Galtier replaced Mauricio Pochettino in the dugout.
Their priority was to instil much-needed discipline at the club and transform the transfer policy – with Vitinha, Renato Sanches and, in the works, Fabian Ruiz fixing the midfield – but the former aim is receiving an early test after this weekend's events.
