Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe arrived to much fanfare in the Spanish capital, on a free from Paris Saint-Germain, and to much chagrin in the French capital. While PSG allege that they had a verbal agreement that he would not leave the club for free, Mbappe continues to claim his unpaid wages for the months of April, May and June, which amount to a total of €55m.
It has been a long-running process, with Mbappe’s legal team going through various courts and mediations to try to get the money out of his former team. However they have now upped the ante.
“The process began in February 2024 and, since then, PSG has not fulfilled its contractual obligations,” Delphine Vanderheyden, his lawyer, explained quoted by Cadena SER.
“He joined PSG in the summer of 2017, signed a contract that was extended in the spring of 2022 for two seasons with the option for another. Along the way, there were exchanges, discussions, pressure… The contracts were signed. There were two of them. Have they been fulfilled? Yes. To the end? Yes. Paid? No. What’s missing? €55m.”
They go on to say that Mbappe’s legal team have placed an embargo on €55m of PSG’s funds, until the legal tribunal is resolved, which is due to be so on the 26th of May. However perhaps the most interesting part is that his lawyers have also approached UEFA, asking them to suspend PSG’s licence to play in Europe next season if they do not pay up. There is a regulation that states if a club has not paid its players in the entirety of their contract, the licence should not be granted.
Mbappe’s legal team also announced that they would be pursuing the money through all legal means available, but PSG did not take long to react. Their own statement was relayed by Marca.
“After hearing yet another fantastic story from a parallel universe today, PSG still doesn’t understand why Kylian Mbappe isn’t taking his dispute with his former club to the Conseil des Prud’hommes, the only court with jurisdiction to rule on the matter.”
PSG go on to say they are open to a friendly solution to the dispute, ‘despite his actions in bad faith’. However it appears that solution is likely to involve PSG paying less than the €55m Mbappe feels he is owed by the club, something the Real Madrid star appears not to be contemplating. While Mbappe appears to hold plenty of affection for his boyhood club, relations with PSG CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi are strained.
