Neymar past his best and not as important to PSG as Mbappe, says club favourite

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 5 min read

David Ginola believes Neymar’s contract renewal at Paris Saint-Germain does not mean much if the club cannot tie Kylian Mbappe down to a fresh deal too.

Over the weekend, the club announced that the Brazilian superstar had put pen to paper on a lucrative four-year contract that will keep him around until the summer of 2025.

READ MORE: Neymar’s best and worst stats since leaving Barcelona

Prior to that announcement, there had been continued speculation that Neymar could either leave the club at the end of this campaign for a fee or the next on a free transfer if Barcelona came calling.

The Blaugrana unsuccessfully attempted to bring Neymar back to the club two years after his world-record move to PSG, and still hold a concrete interest in doing so.

Though Neymar’s renewal will allow PSG to breath a little easier, there is also the renewal of Mbappe to think of, with the World Cup winner’s current deal set to expire in 2022.

Though Ginola is content with Neymar’s stay, he ultimately believes the current PSG star is past his best and that Mbappe is more important to the club.

Ginola on Neymar:

“The important thing to win trophies is stability in a group. To gain Neymar’s loyalty even more, I think that’s a very good thing,” Ginola, who played with PSG between 1992 and 1995, told France Info.

“Winning matches with one player today like back then, you could do with [Michel] Platini and [Diego] Maradona, I think those days are over.

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“We cannot sign Neymar again without securing the signature of Kylian Mbappe. Neymar is 29 years old, his best years are behind him. 

“Mbappe is more about youth, talent in its raw state, he is a boy who has enormous potential, but we are only at 60% of his capacities.

Ginola also believes that there is too much of an individualistic dynamic at the club at the moment.

“Except that today, all these players will have to realise that they can not win anything if they do not put themselves at the service of a group,” he added.

PSG were recently eliminated from the Champions League at the semi-final stage by Manchester City, and also faltered in their defence of the Ligue 1 title at the weekend as they drew 1-1 with Rennes.

At the moment, they are three points adrift of league leaders Lille with two matches remaining.