My PSG to me: for Nenê, "if Neymar brings back the Champions League, he can overtake Rai"

At 39, Nenê is still playing at the highest level in Brazil with Fluminense. He talks about his two-and-a-half-year adventure in Paris and is still as impactful against the microphone as he is with the ball.

How would you sum up your adventure at PSG?

NENÊ . It really is the best time of my career. For a little less than three years, I have had incredible consistency. I finished the club's top scorer twice, the league's top scorer with Giroud when he was a striker and me midfielder (Editor's note: author of 21 goals, Giroud was crowned because he had taken fewer penalties) . I had never scored so much, made so many assists, signed such performances and experienced such moments with the supporters. I enjoyed myself in Paris. Even today, I feel the love of the supporters, it touches me.

It must be said that when you are transferred from Monaco to Paris, you change the atmosphere in the stadium ...

The difference is huge with Paris and the change has been brutal. And above all, there is no doubt for me that the PSG audience is the best in France.

What made you feel so good in Paris?

From the start I felt at home. My teammates, managers, staff, everyone welcomed me in an extraordinary way. The Brazilians have a special history with PSG. I felt loved from the start, it gave me the strength and confidence to win with a club that was not coming out of its best period. It's been a while since PSG no longer played the Champions League and no longer competed with the big cars of the championship. Coming to Paris was for me a unique opportunity to mark a small part of the club's history. I grabbed it with both hands and thank God everything went well.

How much has this club marked your life?

PSG were already a very big club. But putting on the same jersey as Rai and Ronaldinho, my two idols, it marks you for life. It is a moment that will stay in my memory forever. To be honest, even before arriving in Paris, I was already thinking about that moment and it did something to me. Beyond all the others, wearing this jersey was one of my motivations to join Paris. There were too many things stuck between us for me not to go. We had to meet, it was our destiny. My life wouldn't have been the same if I hadn't gone to PSG, I wouldn't have been as complete as I am.

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What is your best memory ?

My first match at the Parc des Princes, I scored my first goal there (Editor's note: August 7, 2010 against Saint-Etienne) . And then there is my first goal, too, with the number 10 on the back. It meant a lot to me. Wearing this number there after Rai and Ronaldinho had real meaning. It was an incredible honor, an unforgettable moment.

Nenê with Guillaume Hoarau and Kevin Gameiro in February 2012./LP  

If we asked you to tell us an anecdote ...

(laughs) Oh there are so many. Our group was great, we kept messing around with Guillaume (Hoarau), Jallet, Sylvain (Armand), Makékélé and Giuly. It's been a long time, but p… it was good! I remember our dinners at each other where William was doing the Bob Marley. One day, moreover, Carlo Ancelotti gave us a shout (sic) because of one of these meals. Not because we had organized a barbecue, but because we had not invited him (laughs). He didn't think of himself as our boss. He always wanted to be with us at dinners. It is true that he was serious, but at the same time so human and so funny… I called him “cabeça de melancia” (Editor's note: watermelon head) (he laughs). It was he who told me that Toninho Cerezo (Editor's note: Brazilian defensive midfielder) had nicknamed him like that at Roma. So I called him that all the time too.

So you had very good relations with Ancelotti, despite the premature end of your Parisian history ...

Yes, we've always had very good relationships. He, moreover, did not want me to leave… Let's say that it was the decision I had taken at the time, I do not know if I would have made the same choice today. Sometimes you have to make decisions, think about your family… I have no regrets, but if it were to happen again, maybe the scenario would be different.

Does that mean that this separation was a tear?

It was a little sad, yes. The supporters didn't believe I would leave. Me neither. Leaving was the hardest decision to make and my farewells were truly a heartbreaking moment. I loved the club, the supporters… suddenly they felt bad for me and I felt bad for them. I loved the group, my teammates. Even Ibra, I got on really well with him. In fact, there was nothing forcing me to leave. This is what made it even harder.

You are one of the privileged people who have experienced the change in size of the club ...

Yes, it was special to know the before and after. I never thought the club would reach today's level. Of course, we knew that the potential existed, that they (Editor's note: QSI, the new owners) were going to improve the club, the team, the structures. But never, at that moment, would I have thought that there would be Neymar and Mbappé, that they would form such a team with Di Maria, Thiago Silva, Verratti and the others. We knew they were going to make the club grow, but we didn't know how much. There, all that's missing is the Champions League.

Do you regret not being 10 years younger to play with them?

I don't regret my age. It is only in France that we think a player is old at 32 or 33 years old. The proof, ten years later, I'm still playing! So of course I would have liked to play with the best in the world. Which player would not like to play with Neymar and Mbappé? But time does things well. To each their period. I think mine was ideal for my adventure in Paris.

Which player marked you the most?

Marco Verratti! He has incredible qualities, so much above the rest. He is cold, surgical. When I rubbed shoulders with him, he was 19, 20, yet he was dribbling in the box like in a neighborhood game (laughs). I could talk about Ibra too ...

Ibrahimovic? Yet we had the impression that your relationships were complicated ...

Ibra, it's his way of being, very serious, or his jokes and his way of saying I'm like this or that, that sows the trouble. His strength and his name alone compelled others to improve. It was good. Sometimes you feel like he's crossing the line. But deep down, he's a good person. He has character, doesn't like to lose, that's normal, like me! But he's a lot nicer than most people think.

For Nenê, “Ibra is much nicer than people think” ./LP  

Who is the greatest Brazilian in the history of PSG?

Oh, there was a bunch of them, p… I could talk about Neymar and Ronaldinho. But Rai is the one who played the longest in Paris and won the most titles there. He is the first great Brazilian player in the history of the club. For the moment anyway. If Ney manages to win the Champions League, that can be a game-changer. With his technical quality he can do it. He won everything with Paris, all he needs is that. It would be the first in the club's history. If Ney brings the Champions League back to Paris, he can overtake Rai.

He says to himself that you are one of those who advised him to come to PSG ...

Yes… (he leaves a very long silence and bursts out laughing). That's why I want him to win the Champions League! Not so much for him, but for the club, for Nasser (Al-Khelaïfi), for the supporters who have been waiting for too long… Everyone deserves it! But for him too, of course. I would be happy to say to him: "You see, I told you that and it happened!" It would be proof that I am giving good advice (laughs).

How do you explain the special link between PSG and Brazilian footballers?

Brazilians are historically the most technical players. Beyond those who make the matches win, the Parisian public loves the spectacle, our way of playing forward and transmitting our joy of playing in the stands. We are made to meet.

Who do you think is the greatest foreign player in history?

For me it's Pauleta! It is one of the most decisive. We can talk about Ibra, Cavani who holds the record for goals. But he stayed longer and had a much stronger team around him. Pauleta did not benefit from all of this. It has more merit for me.

Do you still have nostalgia for the Park or for Paris?

Of course ! When I see some of my goals go on social networks or come back to the Park, as it happens to me almost every winter ... it makes me both nostalgic but also very happy to have lived all these beautiful moments at PSG.