Neymar and his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, Edison Cavani, who recently became the club’s highest goal scorer, have been rumored to be warring for supremacy but the former Barcelona star says it’s a lie.
Cavani broke records after scoring in PSG’s 4-0 routing of Montpellier.
Goals from Angel di Maria and Neymar consolidated the champions’ recent 2-1 loss to Lyon, and Cavani was handed a miniature of himself to commemorate the record-breaking achievement, an act from the club which has been widely criticized.
The Uruguay international scored after 11 minutes to steer clear of Zlatan Ibrahimovic‘s haul of 156 goals.
1⃣5⃣7⃣!!!
@ECavaniOfficial's is Paris Saint-Germain's all-time leading scorer!!!!! #PSGMHSC pic.twitter.com/BgmWrFZZZ5
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 27, 2018
The alleged rift between Neymar and Cavani has been a source of concern for PSG management and fans are reacting with whistles, in protest for the Brazilian’s lack of respect.
“Of course it bothered me, but we are here to be whistled and applauded. I am happy, especially for the victory. I think we played well,” he told reporters about the recurring boos and whistles from fans.
Neymar’s arrival in Paris will most likely force the Uruguayan player out of the Ligue 1 club and there are speculations that Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema could be his replacement.
An update from the French media has revealed what Neymar, 25, said about his reason for stopping Cavani from taking the penalty which could have made him an all-time leading goalscorer for the Parisian club.
Talking about the struggle for a penalty kick and whether he was unaware of what the chance against Dijon would have meant for Cavani, the Brazilian star said it was impossible not to know.
In his words, “The coach chose me as the penalty taker though, and there is no problem with this. Everyone [in the team] knows what went on in the changing room, the coach decided and I take on that responsibility.
“I am calm and happy here with my friends and teammates. I came here to make history, give my best and score a lot of goals.
“I’m very happy for him [Cavani] and I’ll try to carry on helping him in every game. I hope that he continues to score a lot more goals for PSG, of course.”
Quand tu soulèves le trophée de meilleur buteur de l’histoire du @PSG_inside 🙌
🏅🏆 #Cavani157 pic.twitter.com/qG9BRH35Tc
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) January 27, 2018
About life at PSG, Neymar added: “I’m relaxed and happy with my teammates, with the way I’m playing and the goals I’m scoring. I came here for that, to make history and try to get the best out of myself.
Image shows Neymar celebrating with Cavani after scoring a penalty against Montpellier
“The rumors will always be there. It was the same when I was at Santos and when I was at Barcelona. You [the press] know that very well.
“In every transfer window there’s something going around with my name on it and it’s impossible to prevent that. I’m happy, I’m fine. Good players always have rumors about them going around and I’m not alone in that but at the moment it seems that they only talk about me. What can I do about that?”
