I used to watch every Everton game with Kylian Mbappe - but Messi wasn’t as keen on the Toffees
PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe would often keep tabs on Everton's performance through his former teammate Idrissa Gana Gueye, and even Julian Draxler would check out Everton's results for a bit of fun - although Lionel Messi wasn't quite so keen.
Gueye, who moved to PSG in 2019, never lost his affection for Everton and was always rooting for them, even when they were struggling with relegation in the 2021-22 season.
"It was difficult in the last year, we keep supporting, we believed," said the Senegal midfielder, who rejoined Everton in 2022. "I remember Draxler every time we lose, he would go 'you see your team, they are not good!' and I would say, 'We will survive' so the day we survived against Crystal Palace he said 'you were lucky' and I said 'I told you'. I told him to come to Everton but he hasn't listened!"
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Gueye would regularly watch the Toffees on his phone at team hotels, and some of his PSG teammates took just as much of an interest - not least Mbappe himself.
"Mbappe, yeah he would watch," said Gueye. "He liked to watch every game. [Lionel] Messi, no. It was difficult for me because we were losing a lot and he would say, 'Bro come on you see your team is losing and playing like this?' but it was funny.
"I used to send Seamus Coleman, Mason Holgate and Jordan Pickford messages 'Bro, please do it!'. It was important for me to support and show I was there for him."
Despite being aware of Everton's challenges, Gueye couldn't resist returning to help them when he got the call from Frank Lampard and Kevin Thelwell. Although Gueye helped
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