Not only are teammates on the field, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are also close brothers in real life.
Differences in personality do not prevent Mbappe and Neymar from being as close as brothers at PSG. In the photo is the moment Neymar poured water on his juniors when celebrating PSG’s victory over Monaco in Ligue 1 on April 21, 2019. Photo: AFP
One evening in Paris, at the end of a party at a major fashion house near the Champs-Élysées, Neymar invited his PSG teammates to his home on the outskirts of Paris to continue the party. Normally, Mbappe would disagree. Although he is very young, his professional sense is very high. Mbappe is famous for his rule of never going to bed late and even though he is considered the golden boy of France, he still lets his parents monitor his schedule. But Neymar is the exception. There was no match the next day. Mbappe happily accepted.
In the middle of Neymar’s living room, the players chatted. Neymar stood in the middle, Mbappe right next to him. They are the center of the party. “What Neymar said shows great respect and gratitude to Kylian. Obviously, to the Brazilian boy, Kylian Mbappe is an important person,” France Football quoted a witness present at the party, answering. anonymously, in their early February 2021 issue.
The two players first met in the summer of 2017 in two opposite deals. Neymar is already a cult superstar, joining PSG with a $263 million contract from Barca. Mbappe is just a potential player from Monaco, coming on loan. At the beginning of the transfer window, the press rumored that Mbappe was “coming to PSG”, but many weeks passed, when Neymar had finished all the procedures to play for the French capital team, Mbappe’s case was still frozen. It was at that time that Neymar actively texted Mbappe, even though they had never met in real life. As if “love at lightning”.
With Mbappe, Neymar is one of the biggest idols. His private room as a child – located on the second floor of an apartment in Bondy, on the outskirts of Paris, France – was covered with pictures of players. Loads of photos of Cristiano Ronaldo. A father’s admonition. Lots of commemorative photos with Jirès Kembo Ekoko, Mbappe’s adopted brother, whom his parents adopted at a young age. And below, is Neymar, in the colors of Barca and Brazil.
They quickly stuck together. “Neymar and Kylian are constantly talking to each other about how to coordinate on the field, how to be most effective,” Joao Henrique, a Brazilian journalist, told France Football. Isabela Pagliari, sports presenter on TNT Sports also agrees: “Neymar has a lot of respect for Mbappe, often calling Mbappe ‘brother’,” she said. “They talk to each other a lot, sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish, a language that Mbappe is now fluent in. They also text each other a lot. When Mbappe doesn’t score in a game In the match, Neymar will find a way to pass. And when Neymar injured his left ankle and was accused of raping a young girl, he received absolute support from the 22-year-old striker.”
Neymar and Mbappe when co-hosting an online exchange program with PSG fans in January 2019. Photo: Le Parisien
Thomas Tuchel, former PSG coach, now working at Chelsea, confirms this: “Both in training sessions and in matches, they are always holding the ball together, practicing one exercise after another, automatically linking up. .
One detail that worries the French media is Neymar’s lifestyle. While Mbappe is very docile, has a high sense of professionalism, Neymar loves to party, dance like a Brazilian player. It is not unusual for knowledgeable people in France to see two people taking each other to nightclubs and parties. Mbappe has never been absent from Neymar’s birthday celebrations. Neymar is very close to Lionel Messi, but Neymar rarely invites Messi to his parties. Mbappe once took his friends to Neymar’s home in Paris, playing around.
There is an anecdote in 2019, Gianluigi Buffon – the only person besides Mbappe that Neymar listens to – chatted with two players. The Italian goalkeeper turned to Neymar and asked: “What do you want in the end, Ney? Ballon d’Or? Then please stop partying, set an example for Kylian”.
But in more than four seasons with PSG, Neymar suffered more injuries, Mbappe played more games, 150 compared to 102 of the man, in all competitions. Mbappe always knows how to keep himself, and still focuses on his career, while Neymar is sometimes distracted, involved in unnecessary scandals off the pitch, and the star nature of this player cannot avoid scandals.
Older than his age, Mbappe receives absolute respect from Neymar, even though he is 6 years younger than his senior. When asked by a France Football reporter about this, the 22-year-old French striker confided: “Because I did not raise my voice to preach morality to him,” Mbappe said. “I have nothing to teach him. We don’t talk too much about football, but we talk a lot about the playing environment, the media, the fans, the opponents, the league. That’s why. We stick together.”
Intimacy in real life helps Neymar and Mbappe find harmony on the pitch. Photo: Reuters
Unlike the worries of experts, Mbappe is not damaged because of Neymar, but also makes rapid progress. In addition to the nine domestic titles he won with PSG, which was too easy given the team’s dominance in France, Mbappe also won the World Cup and with Neymar led PSG to the Champions League final last season.
“My position against Neymar has not changed, even though I have won the world and he has not,” Mbappe said. “When I was just a rising star, Neymar had everything, but he took the initiative to teach me many things. At PSG, I learned a new kind of football. Monaco mainly counter-attacks, and PSG. often had to break defences.. Neymar and I learned to drill through 5-3-2, 5-4-1, 4-1-4-1 formations, with low defenses Neymar controlled everything. Thanks to him, I have a lot of space. Neymar is not the type of star who will score when the score is 5-0. He breaks the score 0-0.”
The close brotherhood helped Mbappe sublimate on the pitch, and also saved Neymar from being “kicked” off the Parc des Princes. In the 2018-2019 season, Neymar took a break for almost the whole season because of a foot injury, creating conditions for Mbappe… to sublimate. The young striker scored 39 goals in 43 appearances, his highest season at PSG. Rumor has it that PSG will sell Neymar back to Barca for Mbappe to reveal. But chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi denied it.
The Qatari billionaire held a press conference attended by two players, only to confirm one thing: No one is going anywhere. According to France Football, Mbappe told Neymar: “You don’t need to go anywhere. Stay and shine together”. According to journalist Joao Henrique, “before Covid-19 broke out, they promised each other that they would compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.” And if Neymar helped Mbappe win the “Golden Boy” award in 2017 (actually thanks to Mbappe’s achievements in Monaco more), Mbappe will also try to make Neymar win the Ballon d’Or soon.
The chemistry, explosive ability of Neymar and Mbappe is the inspiration to bring PSG to the Champions League final 2020, where they only lost 0-1 to Bayern. Photo: New York Times
Neymar confirmed this. “I challenge Mbappe to reach 200 goals in a PSG shirt,” the Brazilian superstar answered in Globo Esporte newspaper recently. “We are as close as brothers, like me and Lionel Messi before, when I fought for him to win the Ballon d’Or. I hope Kylian and I will be in the Top 3 of the Ballon d’Or next year. It will be a special occasion.”
