EXCL: Neymar’s PSG “hell” comments, Donnarumma swap deal, Chelsea links with French wonderkid, Giroud to the MLS, and more

Our man in France with this week's deep-dive into PSG, Marseille, and more!

Neymar’s PSG “hell” was largely of his own making

Neymar recently made some interesting comments, describing life at PSG as “hell” for himself and for Lionel Messi in the last couple of years. Of course it’s easier for someone like Neymar to make this kind of comment now that it’s all behind him, but I think a lot of his problems were of his own making. That extends to a number of other players as well, not just him - Marco Verratti, for example, when you don’t conduct yourself in a professional manner then the fans are going to come down on you like a ton of bricks if results are not as expected.

For Messi, it’s a bit different because PSG fans can’t really question what Messi has achieved over the course of his career, whereas Neymar has perhaps not had as fulfilling a career in terms of success on the pitch. Even if Messi didn’t quite hit his best form at PSG, I think there’s a level of respect there. With Neymar, it’s a bit easier to see why it might have been a bit more hellish for him at times, but equally, if he had looked after himself properly and got the operation done when he should have done, back in 2017, perhaps things could have gone very differently for him.