The highly decorated former trainer cares little for the attacker’s antics but would still pick him ahead of the France star
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque prefers Neymar to Kylian Mbappe at Paris Saint-Germain, even though he thinks the Brazil star’s behaviour can cause problems.
Neymar has made an impressive return to first-team action with the Ligue 1 champions, having missed five of their opening seven games in 2019-20 in all competitions.
The forward’s pre-season was blighted by an ankle injury that saw him miss the Copa America, and he was then kept out of the PSG side by head coach Thomas Tuchel during an uncertain transfer window.
The 27-year-old failed to secure a return to Barcelona before the transfer deadline, though, and has scored exceptional late winning goals in his performances against Strasbourg and Lyon since.
Despite raising concerns over whether he could ever be considered an ‘example’ in the game, former Madrid coach Del Bosque would gladly have Neymar at his disposal.
Speaking to Cadena SER, he said: “Between Neymar and Mbappe, I like Neymar right now. He does a lot of bulls**t and he’s not an example for anyone, but as a player he’s terrific.
“Mbappe has qualities to be the successor to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but he still needs to refine things a little. It’s a little like it is with Vinicius [Junior].”
Del Bosque was speaking after Barcelona captain Messi was awarded The Best FIFA Men’s Player prize for 2019, ahead of Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Juventus forward Ronaldo.
“For me, yes, Messi is the best ever, but that’s not to detract from Ronaldo,” was Del Bosque’s assessment.
“Last year, someone dared to claim that Cristiano Ronaldo was finished, that it didn’t matter if he left [Madrid]. Messi and Cristiano have no limits.”
Del Bosque has been out of football since leaving his Spain post following Euro 2016, where they lost to Italy in the last 16.
The 68-year-old won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 with the national team, having previously won two La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues in a four-year spell as Madrid’s head coach.
Given those achievements, he has no desire to come out of retirement.
“I don’t miss the dugout. Would I come back? No way – not a chance. I don’t miss anything. I’ve already been in the two best places I could be,” Del Bosque said.
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