In the adaptation of Lionel Messi to PSG, he was already tired of living in a hotel, but he also acknowledged in an interview that he has a good relationship with Kylian Mbappé
Argentine Leo Messi asserted that “it is easy to get along” with Kylian Mbappé, teammate in Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), and revealed that the French striker “speaks perfectly Spanish.”
Messi, 34, gave his first big interview since his debut with PSG to the magazine France Football, organizer of the Ballon d’Or and who has just announced the 30 candidates for the award that will be given at the end of November.
The relationship with Mbappé, the Copa América that he won with Argentina and the adaptation to Paris, his new city after two decades in Barcelona, took up a good part of the interview.
“With a player like him (Mbappé), it is easy to get along, he also speaks perfect Spanish, so we have also spoken a lot off the pitch. That makes it easier. I have recently arrived and it is still premature to draw conclusions, but I am sure that will go well, “he said.
PSG number “30” confessed that he did not give Mbappé advice, when he was close to signing for Real Madrid in the summer: “I had just arrived and I did not know him well enough to give him advice. A bit like everyone else, I was waiting to see what would happen. He stayed and for me it is a great happiness, “he said.
The Argentine was questioned among the different of the trio that he formed in Barcelona, with Neymar and Luis Suárez, and in which he participates now, also with Neymar, but with Mbappé, instead of Suárez.
“First age, in the first trident we were younger (laughs). The young man today is Kylian (…) Luis is a pure 9, an area attacker, who scores a lot of goals; Kylian loves to touch the ball, it’s strong and tremendously fast, it kills you if you leave it the least space and it also scores a lot, “he analyzed.
Messi recalled that his departure from Barcelona was unexpected and unwanted at that time and thanked PSG because it was “the team that showed a real interest” in signing him.
“Today I am very happy to be here (…) It is a new life experience, a great change and I try, little by little, to adapt“, said the player, who asserted not” to have been wrong “for having come to Paris.
He recognized that the presence of Neymar and that of his compatriots Angel di María, Leandro Paredes and Mauricio Pochettino was crucial to sign for the Parisian entity, with whom he also shares a language.
On adapting to the Parisian day-to-day life, he assumed a certain fatigue by continuing to live in a hotel, although in general he stressed that it is going “well.”
“We are still at the hotel and it is starting to get long. The boys (he has three children) have started school and it is not easy to make the round trip from the hotel. We are looking forward to moving into our new home and starting the new routine“, he pointed.
Of the Copa América that he lifted with the Argentine national team this July in Brazil, the first title he won with the Albiceleste after losing numerous finals, he said it was like “removing a thorn from his foot.”
“I would have had a strange feeling inside me if I had finished my career without having won a title with my country (…) It was the title that I was missing,” he said.
Regarding the Champions League, which PSG has been looking forward to for a decade, Messi said that the team “has all the weapons” to win it, even if the degree of difficulty is high.
Of the Ballon d’Or, which the Argentine won more than anyone (6), he assured that this year he is not seen as a favorite and recalled that these individual awards are the result of collective work.
“I have never focused on winning them. It has been the consequence of collective victories and a good job done. If the team plays well and has performance, the individualities shine too“, he concluded.
.