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PSG chief criticises Lionel Messi for lacking 'respect' while comparing him to Kylian Mbappe

Home> Football> Ligue 1> PSG

Published 14:37 10 Jan 2024 GMT

PSG chief criticises Lionel Messi for lacking 'respect' while comparing him to Kylian Mbappe

Lionel Messi claimed he was the only member of the Argentina squad to not be honoured by his club following last winter's World Cup win.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has hit out at Lionel Messi for lacking "respect" towards the Ligue 1 champions.

Messi, who scored 32 goals in 74 games for the French club before his summer departure, publicly criticised PSG for not honouring his World Cup win with Argentina.

Speaking to Olga back in September, he said: "I was the only player that didn't receive recognition from the club compared to my 25 other teammates."

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The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner did receive a special guard of honour from his PSG teammates after returning from a 10-day break following the celebrations.

But it appears Messi's issue is with those in the boardroom.

Messi reportedly wanted to present the World Cup at the Parc des Princes prior to a game but the club feared the reaction would be negative given Argentina beat teammate Kylian Mbappe and France.

Shortly after Messi's comments in September, Paris Saint Germain president Nasser Al Khelaifi responded to Messi over the Argentine’s World Cup claims.

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“As everyone saw, because we even published a video, we celebrated Messi in training, and we also celebrated him in private," he told RMC Sport.

“But with respect, we are a French club. It was of course sensitive to celebrate at the stadium. We must respect the country he defeated, his teammates on the France team, and our supporters too.”

Image credit: Getty
Image credit: Getty

Now, Al Khelaifi has gone one step further by criticising Messi for showing a lack of respect towards his former employer.

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"He's not a bad guy but I don't like it," Al-Khelaifi told RMC Sport.

"I'll say, not just for him but for everyone, we talk when we're there, not when we're gone. That's not our style... I have great respect for him [Messi] but if someone wants to speak badly about Paris Saint-Germain afterwards, that's not good. That's not respect."

He added: "If anyone talks about the fact that we didn't celebrate him enough after he won the World Cup, we're in France and he won against Kylian.

"We are a French club. I don't want the whole stadium to be against him either."

Featured Image Credit: Getty Images

Topics: Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Messi, Ligue 1, Transfers

Jack Kenmare
Jack Kenmare

Jack is a Senior Journalist who enjoys a long read. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of Football Manager wonderkids from 2005 to the present day, and has interviewed a handful of FM's finest, including Freddy Adu, Supat Rungratsamee and Mika Aaritalo.

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@jackkenmare_

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