France international Kylian Mbappe says he is not ambitious to outshine his Brazil talisman, Neymar at French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain, but is keen on stealing the from Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi in Europe.
“When I arrived in Paris, there was no debate. It was him [Neymar], the superstar, whom I had come to help a little” Mbappe, 21, who joined PSG from Monaco in 2017 told France Football.
“He gets injured, [Brazil go out of] the World Cup and I win it. And there begins to come out, the stories about our alleged rivalry, about my willingness to take his place.”
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Mbappe added: “I was shocked to hear all of this. When I came back in August 2018, the first thing I did was go and catch Neymar to tell him: ‘Don’t worry, I won’t be walking on your flower beds here. I assure you that I do not want to take your place, you can keep it. I’m always here to help you.
Mbappe who netted 39 goals in all competitions for PSG last season and has already scored 18 so far this term however admits he is working hard to outshine Messi in Europe but it has proven an uphill task.
“Rather than putting my head down and waiting quietly for the end of the season, I tried to outdo myself” Mbappe said.
“I then realised that l could try to seek this title of best European scorer. But, opposite, there was Messi. l’d score two, he’d score
three; l’d score three, he’d score four!
“It was so crazy that I talked about it with Ousmane [Dembele]. It is not possible, does he do it on purpose? He looks at the number of goals I score?” ‘Of course he’s looking at
you!
“I said to myself: Yes, Messi is watching me. It is flattering to see that such a player does not neglect you,” Mbappe concluded.
