A former Parc des Princes favourite thinks the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s presence in Ligue 1 will do the competition “a lot of good”
The prospect of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe playing together is “mind-boggling”, according to Ludovic Giuly, who has expressed his excitement over the former Barcelona superstar’s imminent arrival at Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi confirmed his departure from Camp Nou on Sunday, following the club’s announcement that they were unable to re-sign the six-time Ballon d’Or winner amid a financial crisis that has seen them post record-breaking debt numbers.
Barca couldn’t tie Messi down to a new contract without exceeding La Liga’s wage limit, and the 34-year-old is now preparing to take on a new challenge away from Catalunya, with PSG reportedly set to win the race for his signature.
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What’s been said?
Messi is expected to commit to a two-year deal at Parc des Princes this week, which will see him reunite with former Blaugrana team-mate Neymar, who moved to PSG from Camp Nou in a world-record €222 million (£188m/$261m) deal back in 2017.
The Argentina international is also set to link up with World Cup-winning forward Mbappe, with Giuly of the opinion that an all-star attacking trident will help Ligue 1 reach a new level of prestige after many years of being seen as one of the weaker divisions in European football.
“We already had two of the four best players in the world, now we have the third,” the former Barca and PSG winger told Le Parisien.
“Do you realise that Neymar, Messi and Mbappe will play together in Ligue 1? It sounds mind-boggling. Ligue 1 needed such positivity.
“It will not reflect well only on Paris, but on all of France. Everyone will only talk about him, everyone will go to the stadium to see him.
“It will do our league a lot of good.”
The bigger picture
Neymar and Messi struck up a great relationship at Camp Nou after the former’s arrival from Santos in 2013, winning eight major trophies together in the space of four seasons.
The pair helped inspire Barca to an unprecedented treble success in 2014-15, and seemed to have a telepathic understanding in the final third alongside Uruguayan frontman Luis Suarez, who completed Luis Enrique’s fearsome forward line.
Neymar ultimately decided to step out of Messi’s shadow by joining PSG four years ago, but hasn’t quite reached the same heights without him, and could rediscover his best form when they reconnect at Parc des Princes.
Mbappe, meanwhile, has already established himself among the elite strikers of his generation, but Messi’s presence might help him achieve his ambitions of becoming a Ballon d’Or winner in the near future, and convince him to ignore the advances of Real Madrid in favour of extending his stay in Paris.