My job? To learn from Neymar, says £166m PSG striker Mbappe

AS AN 18-year-old with a £166million price tag on his shoulders, it would be perfectly understandable if Paris SaintGermain’s talented young superstar Kylian Mbappe allowed fame to go to his head. But the former Monaco forward insists he’s only thinking about having fun when he steps on to the pitch and plays with Neymar.

PSG unleashed their remarkable four-man strikeforce, which cost a truly staggering £450m to assemble, on Friday night. For that kind of money, you get your pick of the cream of world-class attacking talent and Mbappe marked his debut with a goal in a 5-1 win at Metz.

Celtic will have to find a way to stop their attacking foursome of Mbappe, Neymar, Julian Draxler and Edinson Cavani — three of them netted against Metz.

Metz gave sturdy resistance on Friday, but were eventually blown away by a the rapid movement and one-touch guile of a forward line that is surely incomparable in the game right now.

And Mbappe admitted he loved teaming up with ex-Barcelona ace Neymar, who also moved to the French capital this summer in a record-breaking £198m move.

He said: ‘It’s easy to play with Neymar. I only had one training session with him before this game, but it was simple to play alongside him.

‘He’s a player who turns you into a better player. He’s at the very top of world football, 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 chance to play with the best players in Europe. My job is to learn from their movements and from their professionalism. This is a great opportunity for me.

‘It could have been a difficult game for us at Metz because we had a lot of players who had been away on international duty. But our 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, in time, I hope I can evolve into a top player too.

‘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 to go and express ourselves.

‘We have to keep it going against Celtic, there are still plenty of matches and we will have to be on top of our game all the time.’

French international Adrien Rabiot reckons the arrival of Mbappe and Neymar will take PSG on to a different level with their attacking options and he believes they could be at the top of their game for years to come.

Their strength in depth is such that they cruised to victory on Friday without injured duo Angel di Maria and Javier Pastore, Brazilian duo Dani Alves and Thiago Silva remained on the bench and Marco Verratti was suspended.

Rabiot said: ‘There will certainly be a bit of a traffic jam up top but that is something that the coach and the club will look at.

‘What is certain is that we are going to have many different options with Neymar, Edinson, Kylian and the other attackers we already have. Neymar and Kylian, in particular, can play in three attacking roles... left, right and even in the middle.

‘Do we now have the best attack in club football? That might already have been the case before Kylian’s arrival. But now it is certain — PSG will boast one of the best attacks in the world.

‘However, more exciting for me is how young the new recruits are. Neymar could stay at the top for another seven or eight years and Kylian over 10 or more.

‘PSG really have moved to a new level.

‘Over the past year, one cycle ended and new life had to be breathed into the project. Players like Marco Verratti, Marquinhos and myself, several young players, were asking ourselves questions about the club’s future.

‘We are ambitious, we want to target the Champions League and reach as high as possible. We do not want to miss our chance. ‘Now, we have the answers to our questions and it is very difficult to have any doubts.’

And PSG skipper Silva admits he’s been hugely impressed by Mbappe since his loan move from Monaco. He said: ‘He always wants to score, he is a quality player who loves to dribble. PSG loves that kind of player. ‘He could be a very important player for the squad.’