'That son of a b*tch Messi!' - Kylian Mbappe's surprising joke about Argentina superstar revealed by Javier Pastore after France's defeat in World Cup final

Argentina captain Messi helped the South American nation to a penalty shootout victory against France in Qatar in 2022, despite Mbappe scoring a hat-trick for Les Bleus in the showdown. Pastore revealed he visited the Paris Saint-Germain dressing room months later and Mbappe spoke up about his then team-mate Messi.

Pastore told La Nacion: "I saw [Mbappe] a couple of months after the final in Qatar, when PSG went to train and play a match. And I was in the locker room, with him, with Messi, with Neymar. I congratulated him on the World Cup and he told me: 'Noooo, this son of a bitch Messi who beat us in the World Cup...' As a joke, as if saying that Leo had won it alone."

Ex-Argentina and PSG star Pastore has been impressed by Mbappe, who he believes has a similar mindset to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He added: "I spoke a lot with Kylian, he is a very focused boy: he lost a final and the next day he was already thinking about the next thing he was going to win. He has an incredible mentality. I know him very well, I have a very nice relationship with him and he is a winner, he competes 100 per cent. I'm surprised by how serious he is at that age. That seriousness had only been seen in Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. In new generations it is very difficult to find the concentration and seriousness that Kylian has. I don't see it in other young people... maybe I do in [Erling] Haaland. But it's hard to find those traits. Kylian is always focused and willing to give more, and that always surprised me."

While Messi soon left PSG to join Inter Miami in his final years of his career, 25-year-old Mbappe is expected to confirm a move to Real Madrid this summer after he informed the French giants that he will leave when his contract expires at the end of the season.