Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry were less than impressed with Kylian Mbappe after allegations over the Frenchman desiring an exit from PSG emerged.
The former told CBS Sports (via Rousing the Kop) ahead of the Ligue 1 outfit’s Champions League clash with Benfica: “Things like this, I just think for me, we all love him as a player – he’s amazing.”
“But there’s too much ego, power for a 23-year-old player. Who is one of the best players in the world, but it’s too much for a young player.”
There was some overlap in Thierry Henry’s thoughts on the former Monaco attacker who criticised the 23-year-old’s apparent unwillingness to sacrifice for the team.
“Nobody likes to be exposed to what you are not good at. He doesn’t like it,” the ex-Arsenal star also mentioned on CBS (via HITC).
“But if there is something that’s bigger than anything else, then it’s the club.
“But did they make him feel that the club is the most important thing? Or did they feel that he is more important than the club?
“I will use my own story – I didn’t like to play high and wide at Barcelona. I hated it. But I had to do it for the team – I didn’t hear anyone saying ‘oh, what a nice gesture to go and play on the left for others who have less goals than me and less caps’.
“But, at one point, I remembered that there is only one rule. The boss is asking you to do something, you do it for the good of your team. And your team is winning, if your team isn’t winning, then I would have understood that argument.
“I actually don’t know what they promised him (when he signed a contract). From the outside, it looks like he has never heard of ‘no’ in his life.”
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Mbappe’s latest temper tantrum, if reports are to be believed, will push him further away from Jurgen Klopp and Anfield – after a Marca report raised the possibility of a switch to L4 – given the importance we place on character.
We should rightly acknowledge that the forward is a generational talent, though it’s becoming increasingly clear that the damage he could cause to our team spirit would outweigh the potential benefit his signing would bring.
That’s also looking past the fact that we’ve invested heavily in the forward line in recent years, most recently adding £64m Darwin Nunez to the squad in the summer.
Come the next summer window, it would be far more appropriate to spend our funds on addressing the midfield, which has been a clear problem area this term.
Catch the full conversation below, courtesy of CBS Sports:
🗣 "There's only one rule, the boss is asking you to do something, you do it for the good of the team."
🗣 "There's too much ego, too much power for a 24-year-old player."
Thierry Henry, @Carra23 & @LaurensJulien discuss Kylian Mbappé and reports that he wants to leave PSG. 👀 pic.twitter.com/2tVzg8fx4z
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 11, 2022