Rabiot hails impact of Neymar, Mbappe and Alves at PSG

Adrien Rabiot is delighted with the impact of signings Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Dani Alves at Paris Saint-Germain this season.

PSG, who lost their Ligue 1 title to Monaco last term, have started the new campaign in fine form, topping both the domestic table and their Champions League group.

And Neymar, Mbappe and Alves have each been key – with Rabiot identifying the trio as worthy of particular praise.

“Neymar is a phenomenon – we realised that when he virtually single-handedly eliminated us in the [Champions League] knock-out stages at Camp Nou last season,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport. “It is obviously better to have him with us than against us.

“Mbappe has shown that he has great talent – and that talent has no age. Kylian has a great future ahead of him.

“They are the two stars of the team, but do not forget the importance of Dani Alves. He is a leader – perhaps in the background – both during the training sessions and during the matches.

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“He is a temperamental player who knows how to talk to the group, even during difficult times. And then his record speaks for him.”

Rabiot has also enjoyed playing alongside Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti in the midfield, attributing his development to their help.

“I think I have made a lot of progress on a daily basis just by looking at them,” he said. “Motta is a player who never loses his calm, he plays with his head raised, with an extraordinary vision of play and a great quality of passing.

“Verratti has more freedom to play forward, using his very good long pass quality.”

On his own style of play, Rabiot added: “I probably have a better link-up with Motta, who plays close to me on the pitch, but I like the idea that I represent a mixture of these two players, while also having my own characteristics.”