PSG and Kylian Mbappe €55m Dispute Takes New Twist

Paris Saint-Germain have no plans to pay Kylian Mbappe a €55m sum in what the club believe to be already-waived bonus payments.

In August 2023, Mbappe made a verbal agreement with Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of the reigning Ligue 1 champions, to forgo a €30m loyalty bonus and a €25m signing-on fee. He did so as a means to compensate the club for leaving on a free transfer.

PSG argue Mbappe acted in “bad faith”, posing with the club’s shirt with ‘2025’ on the back when he extended his contract in 2022, only to not trigger a one-year extension and leave for Real Madrid instead in 2024 on a free transfer. Mbappe’s contract was only two years guaranteed, taking him up to summer 2024, but PSG insist Mbappe knew he wasn’t triggering the one-year option for months and willingly misled the club.

PSG Still Unwilling to Meet Mbappe Demands

Reigning Ligue 1 champions staying resolute in ordeal

Once PSG realised Mbappe had no intention of staying for an extra year, they excluded him from their 2023 pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea and put him on the market for €180m. But the parties then cleared the air and came to a gentleman’s agreement, which Mbappe referenced several times in public.

However, after officially leaving PSG on June 30, 2024, Mbappe immediately asked to be paid the €55m sum in full, and took his claim to the Ligue de Football Professional’s (LFP) Legal Commission.

The LFP told Mbappe to mediate, which PSG saw as a validation of their arguments, but the French forward rejected this opportunity. As a result, the LFP, who have limited powers, were duty-bound to instruct PSG to pay Mbappe €55m within eight days. This is because, with mediation off the table, they must simply rule on whether an employment contract exists, and one does with Mbappe’s original terms.

PSG still have no plans to pay Mbappe within the next eight days, though, and can’t be forced to, since the LFP ruling is non-binding. It means Mbappe can either engage with PSG directly and try to come to a settlement now, or go to a formal Employment Tribunal.

“Having heard the arguments of the parties, the Commission repeatedly insisted upon mediation between Paris Saint-Germain and the player to find a compromise in light of PSG’s favourable arguments,” read a PSG statement. “This mediation process has been refused by the player, contrary to the Commission’s recommendation.

“As such, and in light of the limitations of the Commission’s legal scope to take a complete decision on this matter, the matter must now be contested in another legal forum, to which Paris Saint-Germain is delighted to present all the facts over the coming months and year.

“As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that must be respected, having been afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris – and the club looks forward to these being upheld in the proper forum, if the player seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly reputationally damaging matter further, in due course.”

Mbappe Poised to Argue Moral Harassment

France international is adamant ex-employers tried to extort money

Any Employment Tribunal will hear PSG’s arguments, including testimonies from Al-Khelaifi, head coach Luis Enrique and sporting director Luis Campos, all of whom will state Mbappe verbally agreed to waive the €55m payment.

The Mbappe side will counter, as they have already done in legal letters, stating PSG engaged in “moral harassment” and tried to “extort” money knowing Mbappe didn’t want to be frozen out of the PSG squad.

But PSG were clear consistently that Mbappe would always have been picked or not based solely on sporting merit despite not travelling with the squad to Asia for pre-season. It is normal practice for any club with a high-value asset on the market, as Mbappe was briefly in summer 2023, to protect them by not playing them in non-competitive games.

A resolution between the parties could now take some time. An Employment Tribunal hearing may drag on for over two years, and even then their advice could be for PSG and Mbappe to settle, leaving the 25-year-old in the same position as now.

If Mbappe is to get his payment, he’ll need to hope the Employment Tribunal agree the original contract outweighs what PSG consider to be a binding verbal agreement.

And whatever happens, one thing is clear: PSG have no intent to pay Mbappe freely, or within the next eight days, meaning there may be a long legal road ahead despite the LFP’s ruling, which is far from a resolution to what is proving to be an ugly saga.

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