Kylian Mbappé’s legal team are going on the attack with multiple lawsuits to try to resolve the legal dispute between the World Cup winner andhis former club Paris Saint-Germain.
The France striker argues PSG owe him €55m (£47.5m) in unpaid wages and bonuses, and his lawyers say they have asked the Paris court to start proceedings. Thomas Clay, one of the forward’s legal experts, said Mbappé had been authorised to make a precautionary seizure of the money, which was frozen from PSG’s bank accounts on Thursday. A legal hearing is scheduled for 26 May, he said.
“This story has been going on for just over a year now,” Mbappé’s main lawyer, Delphine Verheyden, said. “One year was the deadline we set for ourselves for trying to resolve this dispute as peacefully as possible. As the months went by, Kylian Mbappé still hasn’t been paid the missing €55m. A decision has been taken, this time to go on the attack.” Verheyden said they were also asking the French sports minister to intervene and to challenge legally a decision by the appeals commission of the French football federation, which ruled that Mbappé’s appeal against PSG was inadmissible because of a continuing procedure in a civil court.
Separately, she said Mbappé had asked the federation to inform Uefa that PSG failed to pay him what he was owed, in breach of the club’s salary obligations.
Verheyden suggested that if PSG were found responsible the club could lose the licence allowing them to play in the Champions League.
A Uefa spokesperson told Reuters: “The case is only indirectly linked with us in terms of possible arrears of payment. If a final decision is taken by the French authorities and confirms that there are indeed arrears … the club would then have to pay the arrears on time or risk noncompliance with financial fair play.”
Last October, the French league (LFP) appeals commission upheld the decision ordering PSG to pay Mbappé the unpaid wages he wants. Mbappé claims the club owes him three months’ salary and the last third of a loyalty bonus.
He joined Real Madrid from PSG last summer on a free transfer after scoring a club-record 256 goals in seven years. PSG argued that when Mbappé was sidelined before the 2023-24 season – after his decision not to extend his contract – there was a verbal agreement with him opting to relinquish bonuses in order to return to the team. “They have not shown any evidence of any agreement,” Verheyden said.
“After hearing yet another fantastic story from a parallel universe today, PSG continues to fail to understand why Kylian Mbappé is not taking his case to the labour chamber, which is the only court competent to settle the dispute between him and his former club,” PSG said on Thursday.
Mbappé’s lawyers have said they would submit their case before the labour chamber.
Mbappé’s relationship with PSG ended amid deep tensions and some fans booed him in his last home game at the Parc des Princes. PSG felt let down by Mbappé after offering him the most lucrative contract in club history when he signed a new deal in 2022. But Mbappé was frustrated because he felt promises to sign key players were not kept. When he signed that deal, he was paraded in front of fans holding up a jersey with 2025 on it. Mbappé was reportedly annoyed because the contract was until 2024 – with a player’s option for an extra season.
Mbappé stunned PSG in June 2023 by informing the club he would not take the option for the extra year and was left off a pre-season tour to Japan and South Korea and forced to train with fringe players. PSG said they would rather sell him than let him leave for free in 2024 but he rejected a €300m move to the Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal. PSG left Mbappé out of the opening league game of that season but he soon returned to the team after talks.
Mbappé’s legal team said on Thursday they would start an action against PSG for harassment because of the way he was treated. They will also start another legal procedure before an industrial tribunal, and Mbappé and his mother have filed lawsuits for abuse they received online.