Ángel Di María: “They’ve given all this power to Kylian Mbappé,”
even though Lionel Messi plays next to hm.
Speaking to ESPN Argentina, Juventus’ former Paris Saint-Germain forward Ángel Di María (35) has criticised Les Parisiens’ over-reliance on Kylian Mbappé (24) and questioned the club’s motives for doing so given that Lionel Messi (35) remains in the team.
Mbappé almost left PSG last summer but despite strong interest from Real Madrid, the French World Cup winner remained at the Parc des Princes.
An injury to Mbappé against Montpellier coincided with a downturn in form, with three consecutive losses in three competitions.
The first, against Olympique de Marseille, dumped them out of the Coupe de France, whilst the most recent, against Bayern Munich, leaves their Champions League progression hanging in the balance.
For that game, Mbappé was rushed back from injury, whilst manager Christophe Galtier has said that Mbappé will play against Lille OSC this weekend as it gives them a better chance of winning.
There is a case to be made that PSG have become over-reliant on Mbappé, despite the continued presence of Messi and Neymar (31) in the front three.
That is the opinion of Messi’s international teammate Di María.
The Argentine forward, who featured nearly 300 times for Les Parisiens, scoring 93 goals and registering 119 assists, has questioned the power given to Mbappé in an interview with Argentinian television.
“They’ve given [Mbappé] all the responsibility. They made him stay when he could’ve left and they’ve given him this huge responsibility so that it is him and no one else.
They have given Mbappé all of this power, all the while, the best player in history (Messi) is playing next to him. It’s difficult to dispute that.
They’ve given him all this power because he is French because he’s from there and because he’s won a World Cup,” said the Argentine international in an interview transcribed by L’Équipe.
However, despite the fact that he believes Mbappé has been given too much power, the Juventus forward praised the Frenchman, as well as his performances at the recent Qatar World Cup.
“When I was at PSG, he was a good kid. I don’t think he’s changed. Apart from Messi, there was no other player that made such a difference at the World Cup,” said Di María.
