Ander Herrera has spoken to the media about his time at Paris Saint-Germain as well as the situation surrounding the star-studded team this season.
Ander Herrera joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2019 from Manchester United and has enjoyed his time at the club as an important squad player, winning a few titles and getting to the UEFA Champions League final along the way.
The midfielder sat down with Mundo Deportivo to talk about his time at PSG, while also answering questions about the club’s peculiar issues this season.
Paris Saint-Germain pulled the ultimate transfer window by signing five of the most sought after players in world football during the summer. Georginio Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi signed for PSG, all but Hakimi signing for free as the rest of the world watched in awe.
The team has since seen lots of changes on and off the field, but their on-field performances have received a lot more scrutiny. The Parisiens have had some very questionable performances despite maintaining their position at the top of Ligue 1 and keeping themselves in the running for other titles.
Some reports even claim that there is plenty of tension in the dressing room due to some of the signings and the way manager Mauricio Pochettino has handled the team since the integration of the five new superstars.
Pochettino himself has come out to speak about how tough it is to manage a team of superstars while laying to rest any claims that there is infighting within the squad.
All is fine within the squad, Herrera claims
Ander Herrera spoke about a lot of issues including Lionel Messi’s influence on the team, Kylian Mbappe’s contract situation, and rumours about Neymar.
Speaking on Mbappe and Messi, the Spaniard claims that Mbappe is more concerned about learning from Messi than overshadowing him. Messi has scored just six goals and registered five assists in 16 appearances for the club while Mbappe has 15 goals and assists each, making him PSG’s most potent attacker.
“Kylian will be the best player in the world for many years to come, but we all agree that Leo is number one,” Herrera said when asked about Mbappe overshadowing Messi.
“No doubt. Mbappe has an immense humility and desire to learn from Leo.”
“Players of Messi’s level shorten the acclimatization time,” Herrera also added. “He’ll play the same way in France, in Spain, in Japan, or in Madagascar.
“He has won his seventh Ballon d’Or and trains and enjoys it as if he were only starting to play now. No training action is taken as a joke. We have to put ourselves at his service to get the best out of him.
“Now it’s the other way around because we are talking about the best footballer in history.”
Herrera was also asked about the possibility of Mbappe renewing his PSG contract following a picture that was released to social media from the Frenchman’s 23rd birthday party.
The PSG players presented Mbappe with a shirt that read “Mbappe 2050” in reference to his contract situation. Herrera claimed it was all a joke, but that there is still time for the former Koa Trophy winner to sign a new contract at Parc De Princes.
“He is an open, friendly, funny guy. He understands life with humour and there are healthy jokes between us that make a group. We do not pressure each other at all about our futures,” Herrera said of the picture.
“I’m not kidding you, we don’t talk about anyone’s contractual issues in the dressing room.”
About Mbappe signing a new contract, the Spanish midfielder said: “There is scope to try to renew Mbappe. We have many examples of footballers who have done it in February, March or April. There’s still time.”
