PARIS – The bitter financial and legal showdown between Kylian Mbappé and Paris Saint-Germain reached new heights on Monday during a hearing at the industrial court, with both sides now demanding hundreds of millions of euros from each other.
Mbappé, who did not appear in person, has dramatically increased his claim from an initial €55 million to more than €260 million ($301 million). His lawyers argue that his fixed-term contract should be reclassified as permanent, which would entitle him to compensation for unfair dismissal, unpaid wages, bonuses, severance pay, moral harassment, undeclared work, and breaches of the club’s duty of good faith and player safety.
“Kylian Mbappé is not asking for anything other than what the law guarantees any employee,” his representatives said in a statement. “He is simply demanding that his rights be respected.”
PSG fired back with an even larger counter-claim of €440 million ($510 million), including €180 million for “loss of opportunity” after Mbappé rejected a €300 million offer from Al Hilal in July 2023 and ultimately left on a free transfer. The club is also seeking damages for alleged breaches of good faith in negotiations and contract execution, plus reputational harm.
The club maintains that in August 2023, following Mbappé’s refusal to extend his deal, a verbal agreement was reached in which the player voluntarily waived certain bonuses and loyalty payments in exchange for being reintegrated into the first team after being initially frozen out.
“Before the court, the club produced evidence that the player acted disloyally by hiding his decision not to extend his contract for nearly 11 months (July 2022 – June 2023), depriving PSG of any chance to organize a transfer,” PSG stated. “He then contested an agreement made in August 2023 that reduced his salary in the event of a free departure – an agreement designed to protect the club’s finances after the exceptional investment made.”
Mbappé’s side insists no proof of any such waiver agreement has ever been presented.
The forward had previously accused PSG of subjecting him to “lofting” – the French term for isolating a player from the first-team squad – after he informed the club in 2023 that he would not trigger the optional extra year on his contract. He was excluded from the preseason tour to Asia, forced to train with the reserves, and left out of the season opener before being brought back into the fold.
PSG rejected any suggestion of harassment or undue pressure, pointing out that Mbappé played in over 94% of official matches during the 2023-24 season under Luis Enrique, who went on to win the Champions League this year, and that all decisions were made in full compliance with the Professional Football Charter.
A ruling from the industrial court is expected next month.
Mbappé, who joined Real Madrid on a free transfer in the summer of 2024 after scoring a club-record 256 goals across seven seasons at PSG, originally moved to Paris from Monaco in 2017 for €180 million. His departure followed years of tension, particularly after the club believed it had secured his long-term future with the richest contract in its history in 2022 – only for him to announce a year later that he would not extend beyond 2024.
