It may be the international break, but that doesn't stop the drama at Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite new manager Christopher Galtier enjoying an impressive start to life in the French capital, tensions from inside the dressing room are threatening to boil over. Particularly, the frostiness between superstar teammates Neymar and Kylian Mbappe has been the subject of a string of headlines in recent months, and the public animosity is only increasing.
After Neymar snubbed the chance to quash rumours regarding their fraught relationship while on duty for Brazil last week, another voice with special knowledge of PSG's inner sanctum has now echoed the forward's cold sentiment towards Mbappe. Leandro Paredes, who's spending this season out on loan at Juventus, claims that he "didn't have a relationship" with the Frenchman in the latest signal that Mbappe is supposedly a divisive figure in the dressing room.
"I am not the one to talk about him. I had a connection with the ones I had a relationship with," Paredes told ESPN Argentina when asked about the 23-year-old. "But the ones I didn't have a relationship with, I can't tell you about them."
While the midfielder can focus on turning Juventus' fortunes around once he returns to his current club, Neymar and Mbappe will soon be reunited in Paris, with chiefs at the Parc des Princes allegedly well aware that the duo don't see eye to eye. In August, PSG sporting director Luis Campos reportedly intervened in a row which occurred when Neymar and Mbappe were feuding over who would take penalties for the French champions.
Their disagreement was on show during PSG's 5-2 victory over Montpellier and Neymar subsequently went to 'like' multiple posts on social media which were critical of Mbappe and the lucrative new contract which the Parisians awarded him in May, successfully preventing a transfer to Real Madrid.
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His teammate's bumper three-year deal is believed to include assurances that Mbappe will have a say in the club's recruitment decisions, with Mundo Deportivo claiming that the France international was pushing for Neymar to be sold during the summer transfer window in favour of signing an out-and-out striker. Fellow forward Lionel Messi was notably against the idea, having struck up a friendship with the Brazilian during their four years together at Barcelona.
Mbappe even fuelled speculation of a rift with Neymar last month by admitting: "To talk about Neymar, this is the sixth year, I think we've always had a relationship like this based on respect.
"But we've always had moments like this where sometimes we've had moments that were a bit colder and moments that were a bit hotter. There are times, you'll see, when we're the best of friends and sometimes we don't talk so much, it's the nature of our relationship that's like that."
