Neymar made a surprise €222 million move from Barca to PSG this summer and there have been suggestions the Brazil star wanted the chance to establish himself as his club's leading star.
While Messi has won the Ballon d'Or five times, Neymar's best placing was third in the 2015 vote, and he did not even finish on the podium last season, being pushed down into fifth place by Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez as Cristiano Ronaldo won it.
Mathieu, who played alongside Neymar at the Camp Nou for three years before joining Sporting Lisbon this summer, said: "No one expected him to leave, but it's a choice you have to respect.
"I think he left Barcelona to try to win the Ballon d'Or, because he was a little bit second to Leo Messi there. It was difficult for him there, and that's why I think he left.
"I think he'll have more chance of winning it in Paris than Barcelona. But it'll be up to him to score goals, win trophies and try to help Paris win the Champions League."
Neymar has made a positive start in Paris. He helped PSG to a crushing 5-0 defeat of Celtic in their opening Champions League match last week, while he has scored four goals and provided as many assists in his first five league games for his new club.
He did, however, cause a stir with his insistence on taking a late penalty against Lyon on Sunday only to be finally overruled by teammate Edinson Cavani.
Mathieu said the misunderstanding could have come about as Neymar still needs to adapt to club customs at PSG.
"Neymar wants to win above all," he said. "In Barcelona, he took the penalties with Leo. Perhaps he thought it worked like that in Paris too. He's a great player -- it's normal he wants to score lots of goals. Now, Cavani was there before him. In France, it works like that. It's up to the two of them to talk about it."
Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar up for 2017 Best FIFA Men's Player award
Cristiano Ronaldo could be named Best FIFA Men's Player for the second year running after being included in the final shortlist for the 2017 award along with Lionel Messi and Neymar.The trio had been named in an initial 24-man list of nominees last month and will now battle it out for the prize when it is handed out at the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony on Oct. 23 in London. The award, which covers the period of Nov. 20, 2016, to July 2, 2017, is voted for by national team coaches, captains, selected media and fans.
Real Madrid star Ronaldo won the inaugural award last year and is a favourite to claim the accolade next month after a year that saw him help Madrid to a third Champions League crown in four seasons and a first La Liga title in five years, as well as the FIFA Club World Cup
The Portugal captain scored twice as Madrid beat Juventus 4-1 in the Champions League final, while also finishing top scorer in the competition with 12 goals.
Ronaldo faces competition from long-time rival Lionel Messi, who finished as La Liga's top scorer with 37 goals -- 12 ahead of Ronaldo -- and helped Barcelona to Copa del Rey success in what was a largely disappointing season for the club.
Neymar, who finished third in the 2015 Ballon d'Or voting, is also in contention. The Brazil forward became the world's most expensive player this summer when he left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in a €222 million deal.
The three finalists for The Best FIFA Goalkeeper, a new award this year, are Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon, Real Madrid's Keylor Navas and Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer.
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is favoured to be named Best FIFA Men's Coach after being included the final shortlist for the 2017 award along with Juventus' Massimiliano Allegri and Chelsea's Antonio Conte.
There is a chance to vote online for the best goal from a 10-strong list in the 2017 FIFA Puskas Award, which will be reduced down to three ahead of the ceremony.
Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud's scorpion kick against Crystal Palace, Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic's long-range strike in the FA Cup semifinal and Moussa Dembele finishing off a team move by Celtic are all included.
United States midfielder Carli Lloyd will look to retain her title as Best FIFA Women's Player as she was named alongside Venezuela's Deyna Castellanos and Netherlands' Lieke Martens.
The nominees for The Best FIFA Women's Coach are Denmark's Nils Nielsen, France's Gerard Precheur and Netherlands' Sarina Wiegman.
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