“Gave him all that power with the best in history next to him” – Di Maria questions PSG over Lionel Messi treatment compared to Mbappe

Juventus forward Angel di Maria feels Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) overlooked Lionel Messi before putting the burden of responsibility on Kylian Mbappe by offering him a bumper contract.

The Frenchman was on the brink of joining Real Madrid last summer upon the expiration of his term with the Parisians. However, the Ligue 1 giants offered him a fresh deal which made him the world's highest-paid footballer. This was before Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed it following his move to Al-Nassr in December 2022.

The Parisian club reportedly also gave Mbappe the power to have a say in their transfer decisions.

Later, reports emerging from France revealed that French president Emmanuel Macron also got on a call with the forward to convince him to stay in Paris.

🗣️“In France, they gave Mbappe great responsibilities, they made him stay, they gave him everything, but they forgot some small details, including that he plays alongside the best player in history(Messi).” #PSG [@ESPNFutbolArg]

-Angel Di Maria https://t.co/owAnC035qz

Di Maria, his former teammate at PSG, felt too much responsibility was placed on the French starlet, with the club turning a blind eye to Messi.

Speaking to ESPN Argentina, the Argentina said (via GOAL):

"I think France in general have given Mbappe a lot of responsibility. The people, the president, PSG. They made him stay when he could have left and gave him all the power to be him and no one else. But there's a big difference, they gave him all that power with the best in history [Messi] next to him."

He added:

"I think they gave him all that power and strength because he's French, he was born there, won a World Cup and has an extraordinary career ahead of him. But all that aside, when I was at PSG he was a good boy and I don't think he's changed so much."

Mbappe joined PSG from AS Monaco on a whopping €180 million transfer in 2017 and has been on a roll ever since. He has scored 196 goals and provided 94 assists in 244 appearances, lifting 11 titles.

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and PSG looking to return to winning ways

It's been a rough last few days for PSG. They lost three games on the bounce for the first time in 13 years, and interestingly, they all came in different competitions.

The Parisians were knocked out of the French Cup following a 2-1 loss to Marseille before going down 3-1 to AS Monaco in Ligue 1.

𝐓𝐎𝐏 GOALS - #PSGLOSC ⚽️

The best goals scored 🆚 Lille at the 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑐 𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠! 📽️

Which is your favourite? 🤔⤵️

https://t.co/dcMLsXnn2s

Bayern Munich then inflicted further damage by picking up a 1-0 win at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League in the Round of 16. Christophe Galtier's side are now left with an uphill battle in the second leg.

Messi and Mbappe have both dealt with injuries lately but were ineffective on their return. They will be aiming to fire their club back to winning ways tomorrow (February 19) against Lille.