Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe takes former club Paris Saint-Germain to court; here's why

It’s been nearly a year since French superstar Kylian Mbappe made a blockbuster move to Real Madrid after spending seven seasons with Paris Saint-Germain, inking a five-year deal worth €15 million a year after taxes along with a signing fee of €150 million.

The PSG chapter in Mbappe’s career, however, isn’t closed as yet with the forward launching a legal offensive against the Ligue 1 giants on Thursday. The reason – €55 million ($61 million) in unpaid wages and bonuses that Mbappe claims PSG still owes him.

The Judicial Court of Paris has given the green light for the funds to be seized from PSG and protectively frozen while the case is heard, his legal team said at a press conference.

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A court hearing in the increasingly bitter dispute is scheduled for May 26.

The lawyers also announced that Mbappe would take his case to the labour court as part of a wider case brought by French players’ union (UNFP).

The union lodged a complaint with the labour court a year ago claiming players who refused to agree new contracts were being sidelined at their clubs, a practice Mbappe believes was employed against him when he was not selected by PSG at the start of the 2023-2024 season.

“We’re going on the attack,” Mbappe’s lawyer Delphine Verheyden said at a press conference.

“This is just an employee against a bad payer,” Verheyden added. “Kylian Mbappe is determined to enforce his rights, not just for himself but for all the other players” who believe they have been wronged by their clubs.

‘Parallel universe’

Mbappe is also suing for defamation, targeting online stories that he claims were planted by PSG.

A PSG spokesperson dismissed the claims as “a fanciful tale from a parallel universe” but said the club would still like to find “an amicable solution”.

A club official, speaking anonymously, told AFP it had “no problem” in fighting the case at the labour court and said Mbappe “is not going to win”.

The origin of the dispute can be traced back to an agreement in August 2023, when Mbappe was frozen out of the PSG squad for refusing to extend his contract.

An extension would have allowed PSG to receive a transfer fee if Mbappe then departed before the end of his contract, but instead he left for nothing under freedom of contract rules and signed for Real in June 2024.

Under the agreement, Mbappe said he would waive 55 million euros in various bonuses if he departed for free at the end of last season.

But the validity of the agreement is contested by the player’s entourage. They describe it as a “hidden agreement”.

The sum Mbappe is claiming he is owed is comprised of the last third of a signing-on fee, of 36 million euros gross, which he was supposed to receive in February, as well as his last three months’ salary from last season and a bonus covering the same period.

PSG’s owners Qatar Sports Investments have deep funds but regardless of whether they win the case, the 55 million euros will be inaccessible until the case is resolved, which could take several years.

It is a considerable chunk of the 800-million-euro annual budget of a club that won its 11th French league title in 13 seasons last weekend and is poised to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League after a 3-1 win against Aston Villa in the first leg of the quarter-final on Wednesday.

Mbappe spent seven years at PSG, scoring 256 goals in 308 games.

After a shaky start in Madrid, he has hit a run of form, scoring 22 goals in La Liga and seven in the Champions League so far this season.

With AFP inputs