Paris Saint-Germain chief Luis Campos has labelled claims that Kylian Mbappe wanted the French giants to sell Neymar this summer as "fake" having given a furious response to rumours over the pairs' uneasy relationship.
The Portuguese executive was appointed at the Parc des Princes earlier this summer and had a big job on his hands, with plenty of work to do. Mbappe’s future with the club looked in huge doubt - the World Cup winner’s contract previously expiring in the summer and Real Madrid chasing his signature. Meanwhile, Neymar was reportedly unhappy at the club and was looking to quit this summer amid rumours over moves to Manchester United and Chelsea.
In the end, Campos convinced Mbappe to pen a new deal in the French capital, with some reports suggesting that he was set to be handed the opportunity to make major decisions at the club - one of which being the push to move former Barcelona star Neymar on with it being suggested that the relationship between the pair is frosty at best.
The 58-year-old has rejected those rumours though by claiming that the Brazilian was never close to bidding his farewells. In an interview with RMC Sport, he said: "Neymar was never close to leaving PSG.
“Rumours on Neymar this summer were completely fake - also, saying that Mbappé wanted Ney to be sold is another big fake news. Neymar is 100 percent part of our project."
Neymar, 30, currently has three years left to run on his current contract at the Parc des Princes having arrived from Barcelona in a world record deal in 2017.
He finds himself in sensational form following the opening weeks of the 2022/23 season having scored 11 goals and notched seven assists in just ten appearances in all competitions.
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Those sorts of displays see the Parisians top the current Ligue 1 standings and their Champions League group. Despite that, Campos isn’t fully satisfied having not quite managed to tick off all of the club’s requirements in the recent transfer window - a deal for Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar having collapsed.
He continued: “We’ve reached the end of the transfer window without that perfect balance. We have a lot of quality in the squad, there’s no doubt about it. But in the end, we didn’t reach perfection.
“It’s always difficult to reach that, but we’re working to get as close as possible to perfection. It’s a serious problem for us. When you have [just] three central defenders and you’re playing with a three at the back formation, it makes things difficult.
“I won’t give any names. We didn’t just speak with [Milan] Škriniar. In the end, we don’t have the player that we need. If a piece is missing, the puzzle isn’t complete.”
