A Paris labour court has ordered Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to pay Kylian Mbappe approximately 60 million euros in unpaid salaries and bonuses, marking a significant victory for the Real Madrid star in one of French football's most bitter legal battles.
What happened in the court ruling?
On Monday (December 16), the Paris Conseil de Prud'hommes ruled in favour of Mbappe, finding that PSG failed to pay him for three months, April, May, and June 2024, plus an ethics bonus and a signing bonus outlined in his contract. These amounts had already been recognised as owed by the French Professional Football League (LFP) in decisions from September and October 2024. Crucially, the judges noted that PSG could not provide any written proof that Mbappe had agreed to waive these payments.
"We are satisfied with the ruling. This is what you could expect when salaries went unpaid," Mbappe’s lawyer Frederique Cassereau told reporters.
Why did the dispute start?
The conflict began when Mbappe left PSG on a free transfer to join Real Madrid in the summer of 2024. He claimed the club withheld around 55 million euros in final payments as leverage during tense contract negotiations. PSG argued that Mbappe had verbally agreed in 2023 to forgo some bonuses to help the club's finances and facilitate his reintegration into the team after he was briefly sidelined. The court rejected this, insisting on written evidence for any waiver.
What did PSG argue?
PSG accused Mbappe of disloyalty, claiming he hid his decision not to renew his contract for nearly a year. This, they said, cost them a massive transfer fee, similar to the 180 million euros they paid Monaco for him in 2017. The club even countersued for hundreds of millions in damages. However, the court dismissed all of PSG's claims entirely.
Did Kylian Mbappe get everything he wanted?
Kylian Mbappe had sought over €260 million, including reclassifying his fixed-term contracts as permanent and damages for alleged moral harassment and other issues. The judges rejected these extra demands, limiting the award to the core unpaid wages and bonuses.
