French court orders PSG to pay €61m to Mbappe
A French labour court has ordered Paris Saint-Germain to pay Kylian Mbappe €61 million in unpaid wages and bonuses, dealing a major legal blow to the Ligue 1 champions and bringing a key phase of their protracted dispute with the forward to a close.
The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, found that PSG failed to pay three months of the player’s salary covering April to June 2024, in addition to an ethics bonus and the final instalment of a signing-on fee stipulated in his contract.
The amount mirrors sums earlier validated by the French Professional Football League, which the club had declined to honour. The court, made up of employer and employee representatives, upheld Mbappe’s core claims but rejected a separate request to reclassify his fixed-term contracts as a permanent deal. That application would have significantly increased the value of his claim. PSG’s counter-claim was also dismissed in full.
The club had sought €440 million in damages, arguing it suffered financial loss after Mbappe left on a free transfer and alleging the existence of a verbal ‘gentleman’s agreement’ under which the player would forgo certain payments. The court ruled there was no legal basis for the claim and noted the absence of any written evidence to support the alleged agreement.
Mbappe’s legal team welcomed the decision, describing it as the third confirmation of the same position after earlier rulings. They indicated the court ordered provisional enforcement, requiring PSG to make payment without delay.
PSG did not comment immediately following the judgment but has been directed to publish an acknowledgement of the ruling on its official website. Reports suggest the club is considering another appeal.
The verdict adds a legal coda to a relationship that deteriorated publicly during Mbappe’s final months in Paris, which included his exclusion from parts of pre-season preparations and strained relations with the club’s hierarchy.
Mbappe departed as PSG’s all-time leading scorer and has since joined Real Madrid, where he is now competing in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.
