'Totally normal person' - Kylian Mbappe reveals what it was like to play with Lionel Messi at PSG and why he 'wants to thank' Inter Miami star

PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi grabbed the limelight in August 2021 when he did the unthinkable by signing Messi from Barcelona. The Argentine, who spent close to two decades at the Catalan club, finally left to sign for the Ligue 1 giants. There, he linked up with the likes of Mbappe and Brazil legend Neymar to form the most glamorous attacking trio in European football at that time. 

The star-studded side, boasting of having some of the best players in the world across all positions, however, the trio did not click as the French giants won only the Ligue 1 title in their first season and repeated the feat in their second campaign, along with winning the French Super Cup. The team, though, never delivered the Champions League, a trophy the club was desperate to win at the time and was the main reason why Al-Khelaifi assembled so many stars.

Speaking on Universo Valdano, Mbappe shared his experience of playing alongside an all-time great like Messi, as the Frenchman said: "Very normal. When you're famous, you tend to get labeled as what you're like, and if you don't listen, it gets stuck in your head. You say, 'Well, yeah, it's true that's how he is.' But no. Messi arrived and was a totally normal person, respectful of everyone. And as a player, he's... ( sighs ) a unique player. When you have someone like that on your team and you're an attacking player, you just have to be around and watch everything he does. How he finishes, how he saves, how he plays. And I think having been so close to him has helped me a lot to understand the game better."

Mbappe further heaped praise on the Argentina legend, while claiming the lessons he learned while playing alongside Messi in Paris. The Real Madrid star added: "Messi himself told me he regretted not writing down all the lessons he heard, the lessons he learned from Guardiola's Barça. But with you, I get the feeling you've memorised a lot... 

"I think it's been a stroke of luck to play with Leo Messi. I never thought I'd do it in my career. Because my dream was to go to Real Madrid, I never thought about going to Barcelona, and since I thought he'd always play there... I knew I'd have the chance to play against him, not with him. But I did, and it was very special. I learned a lot from him, and I want to thank him. It was a very rich two years. It's a golden opportunity to have such a special player around you."

France have maintained a 100 per cent win record in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers thus far with their latest 3-0 thumping of Azerbaijan. They are now on course to secure a spot at the tournament next summer, if they beat Iceland on Monday, while Ukraine drop points in their upcoming fixture. Mbappe, who has won the World Cup in 2018 and guided Les Bleus to the final last time in Qatar, is hoping to create more history with the national side, as he added: "We have a very strong squad, and that's a blessing. But in international football, you can have the best players, but if you don't create a strong, united group with tactics that allow you to play well, you can't win the World Cup. We know the work we have to do, and we want to make our way back into the country's history books. It's a huge opportunity for us."