WE’RE SO GOOD BOSS JUST LETS US CREATE BEAUTIFUL THINGS ON THE PITCH
SAYS KYLIAN MBAPPE
Kylian Mbappe was the final touch to what PSG believe to be their masterpiece.
A no- expense- spared work of art with attacking riches designed to deliver Champions League glory.
The 18- year- old comes with a £160million price tag after a loan signing from Monaco and he paints a picture of PSG that is more Monet than Mbappe.
Unai Emery’s side showed the full power of their f inancial might by including the kid as part of a four-man strikeforce in Friday night’s 5-1 win at Metz.
Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Julian Draxler made up a quartet who are encouraged by Emery to show a freedom of expression that Mbappe believes is a stroke of genius – if he can fit them all in the same line-up.
The teenage sensation – who bagged a debut goal on Friday – said: “The coach is still working on where we will all play but he gives us so much freedom.
“You can find yourself on the left, right, centre, up front or even behind the main attacker. As long as we have enough cover in defence, we are allowed to go and do beautiful things.
“The coach wants us to be free and go and express ourselves.”
Mbappe appears free of the burdens that come from a transfer fee that was eye-watering – as the would-be French impressionist insists is all about having fun with his new pal Neymar.
With Celtic next up on Tuesday, the prodigiously gifted youngster is convinced Parkhead is the stage that was made for the Brazilian to display his talents.
Despite all the money, the reputations and the expectations for this side when they arrive in Glasgow, Mbappe admits football becomes a simple game when you take to the field with Neymar.
He said: “It’s easy to play with Neymar. I only had one training session with him before the game against Metz but it was simple to play alongside him.
“He’s a player who turns you into a better player. He’s at the top of world football. He is the type of player who wins you titles. The Champions League is the competition for great players – that’s where they perform.
“I have been given this opportunity to play with the best players in Europe. My job is to learn from their movements and from their professionalism.
“It was fun to play with Neymar and all my other team-mates. This is a great opportunity for me.
“It could have been a difficult game for us because we had a lot of players who had been away on international duty. But the movement and passing between us was superb. I am working with intelligent players “This is only one game in for me. The more I play with my new team-mates, the better we will become. I am playing with great players and, given time, I hope I can evolve into a top player too.” Despite claiming five goals against Metz, PSG showed they still require some fine tuning. But Mbappe is adamant it’s allowed some momentum to be built before confronting Celtic. He said: “It was important for us to continue on this path afterafter the international week, when some players came back late. “We showed that we could stay focused and be on top of all the competitions. “There is a victory, a goal and a good game so I have enough to be satisfied. “Now we must not stop on that. We have to keep going against Celtic. There are stil l plenty of matches and we will have to be there all the time.” PSG keeper Alphonse Areola admits his side may be too cavalier for their own good as there were several moments against Metz where their fortune-fortunefavoursfavours--the- brave approach came unstuck through unforced errors. The 24- year- old was as guilty as anyone with a distribution blunder that went unpunished when he headed a clearance straight to Emmanuel Riviere who blew his big moment. Areola insist he’s unfazed by his mistake and it’s an occupational hazard for a side who are all about forward motion. He said: “What happened is part of the risks of our style of play. We always try to start from the back, sometimes too much.
“Fortunately the Metz striker put the ball over. The next time I am in that situation maybe I will make another decision and do things differently.
“I had a fraction of a second to decide what to do and I chose the wrong option.
“But this will not weaken me. After that mistake, I had a lot of the bal l. My team-mates continued to play with me and I will remain at their disposal.”
Areola has his focus firmly on facing Brendan Rodgers and his players in two days and he believes PSG are now getting into their stride.
He said: “We now have five wins in five games and it’s up to us to continue this and show how good we can be.
“We are ready for the next game against Celtic. The next steps are very important. It’s been a good start to the season but it’s a long campaign.
“We need to maintain our form and be ready for the next challenge and we know how great the talent is in attack.
“They do the work at the front and we try to defend as best we can.
“We have confidence in them and I wasn’t surprised with how Mbappe played. We know his qualities and he brings a plus to the team.”