'Nobody forced Neymar to sign' - PSG president says he won't tolerate superstar behaviour

Record breaker | Neymar's move from Barcelona to PSG in 2017 remains the biggest transfer in football history
AFP/Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj17 June 2019

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi says he only wants players "ready to give everything to defend the honour of our shirt" as he insisted that Neymar signed for the club with a full understanding of what was required of him at the Parc des Princes.

In a revealing interview with France Football, in which Al-Khelaifi also insisted that Kylian Mbappe will "200 per cent" stay at PSG next season, the club president opened up about the type of player the Parisians want to build future success around.

And it isn't those who display "superstar behaviour".

Neymar, who became the world's most expensive player when he arrived at PSG from Barcelona in a £198m transfer back in 2017, has constantly been linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Indeed, Los Blancos president Florentino Perez confirmed his desire to sign the Brazil star while Neymar himself said he would like to play alongside Eden Hazard, then at Chelsea but at the time heavily linked to Real, in the future.

But Al-Khelaifi insists that Neymar came to PSG knowing the project he would be involved in - one that saw winning the Champions League as an achievable ambition - but no longer wants "superstar behaviour" at the club.

"I want players that are ready to give everything to defend the honour of our shirt and who sign up to the club’s project," Al-Khelaifi said.

"Those who do not want to, or do not understand it, we meet and we speak. There are of course contracts to respect, but the priority now is complete commitment to our project.

"Nobody forced him [Neymar] to sign here. Nobody pushed him to. He came with a fully understanding of the cause to sign up to a project."

Al-Khelaifi this week brought former PSG midfielder Leonardo back to the club as a sporting director - the post he held between 2011 and 2013 - after Antero Henrique left.

And the PSG president added on his and Leonardo's plans to try and enhance a team that comfortably won Ligue 1 last term but tasted bitter disappointment in the Champions League and Coupe de France: "The squad needs to rediscover rigour.

"If a player makes a mistake, Leonardo will not play nice and he will make him understand that the club is majorly more important than him.

Neymar arrives in Paris - In pictures

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"The players are going to have to assume their responsibilities more than ever before. I want players that are proud to wear our shirt, not players who do the job only when it suits them. They are not here to have fun.

"And if they do not agree with that, the doors are open. Ciao! I no long want superstar behaviour."

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