Kylian Mbappe and PSG could go to mediation over $60M financial dispute

The French football league's legal commission is urging Kylian Mbappe and his former club Paris Saint-Germain to agree to mediation in a dispute over wages and bonuses, PSG said Wednesday.

PSG officials and Mbapp's representatives met in Paris after the France superstar asked the commission to get involved. Mbappe, who joined Real Madrid this summer on a free transfer, says PSG owes him 55 million euros (around $60 million).

PSG, which said it was pleased with the two-hour hearing at the commission on Wednesday, said in a statement it recalled that Mbappe had formerly made clear, repeated public and private commitments that must be respected, having been afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven fantastic years in Paris."

PSG has argued that it does not owe money to the World Cup winner under an agreement when Mbappe was sidelined ahead of the 2023-24 season following his decision not to prolong his contract with the club with the player allegedly stipulating that he would relinquish bonuses over his reintegration into the team.

 

PSG said that the league's legal commission recommended mediation between the parties, which the club said it had been seeking for months.

The French league and the player's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comments from The Associated Press.

Mbappe's relationship with PSG ended amid deep tensions during his final season at the club.

PSG felt let down by Mbappe after offering him the most lucrative contract in the club's history when he signed a new contract in 2022. But Mbappe was frustrated because he felt promises to sign key players were not kept.

When he signed the new deal, he was paraded in front of fans holding up a jersey with 2025 on it. Mbappe was reportedly annoyed about this because the contract was until 2024 with the option for an extra year.

Mbappe stunned PSG in June last year by informing the club he would not take the option for an extra year. With his contract effectively into its final year, it put PSG in the position of needing to sell Mbapp to avoid losing him for free when the contract expired.

His PSG career could have ended in the summer of 2023 amid a tense transfer standoff. After telling the club he would not extend his contract for an extra year, Mbappe was left off a preseason tour to Japan and South Korea and forced to train with fringe players. PSG said it would rather sell him than let the player leave for free in 2024, but he rejected a 300 million euro move to Saudi team Al-Hilal.

PSG left Mbappe out of the team's opening league game of that season as the standoff continued but eventually let him return to the lineup after constructive and positive talks between the two parties, PSG said at the time.