Mbappé played alongside Messi for two seasons in the French capital after the Argentina captain joined the Ligue 1 club on a free after leaving his boyhood club Barcelona in the summer of 2021.
Mbappé shared the locker room with Messi for two seasons.
PSG boss Nasser Al-Khelaïfi caused a sensation in August 2021 by doing the unthinkable: he recruited Messi from Barcelona. The Argentine, who spent almost two decades at the Catalan club, eventually left the club to join the Ligue 1 club. There he joined the likes of Mbappé and Brazilian legend Neymar to form the most prestigious attacking trio in European football at the time.
The star-studded team boasted some of the best players in the world at every position. However, the trio didn't work out: the French giants only won the Ligue 1 title in their first season, before repeating the feat in their second campaign, while also winning the French Supercup. The team, however, never won the Champions League, a trophy that the club was eager to win at the time and which was the main reason why Al-Khelaïfi had collected so many stars.
Messi was “respectful of everyone”.
Speaking on Universo Valdano, Mbappé shared his experience of playing alongside an all-time great player like Messi. The Frenchman said: “It’s completely normal. When you're famous, you tend to be pigeonholed as you are, and if you don't listen, it sticks in your head. We say to ourselves: “Well, yes, it’s true, he’s like that. ” ” But no. Messi arrived and was a completely normal person, respectful of everyone. And as a player, he's… (sighs) a unique player. When you have someone like that in your team and you are a striker, you have to be present and observe everything he does. His finishing, his saves, his play. And I think being so close to him helped me a lot to understand the game better.
Mbappé then praised the Argentine legend, while highlighting the lessons learned alongside Messi in Paris. The Real Madrid star added: “ Messi himself told me he regretted not having written down all the lessons he had heard, those he had learned from Guardiola's Barça.
“I think it’s a chance to play with Leo Messi. I never thought I would do this in my career. “As my dream was to go to Real Madrid, I never considered going to Barcelona, and as I thought he would always play there… I knew I would have the chance to play against him, not with him. But I did it, and it was really special. I learned a lot from him, and I want to thank him. These two years have been very enriching. It's a golden opportunity to have such a special player by your side.
