Kylian Mbappe is a superstar in the world of football. He has maintained this in breaking records while being at Real Madrid. One recent one broken was for the most goals scored in a debut season at Real Madrid. His season total to date is 39 goals in all competitions in 2024-25, overtaking previous record-holder, Ivan Zamorano, who scored 37 times in the 1992-93 season. However, it doesn't mean he's immune from everything. He's just a human being like you and I. A symbol of this is the recent lawsuit that's being filed against him by his former club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
His move last year has led to a contentious dispute that has culminated in legal action. The player claims PSG owes him €55 million in unpaid wages, prompting his lawyers to initiate court proceedings. In response, PSG is now pursuing a counterclaim.
It all began earlier this year, when the French superstar filed a request arguing that PSG owes him €55 million in unpaid wages. Mbappe's lawyers also requested that the Paris court start proceedings.
Mbappe was also authorised to seize the money, which had been frozen from PSG’s bank accounts, as a precaution. "This story has been going on for just over a year now. One year was the deadline we set for ourselves for trying to resolve this dispute as peacefully as possible," Mbappe’s lawyer, Delphine Verheyden, was quoted as saying.
"As the months went by, Kylian Mbappé still hasn’t been paid the missing €55 million. A decision has been taken, this time to go on the attack." PSG argued that when Mbappe had an oral agreement with him, he opted to relinquish bonuses in order to return to the team.
While the French club later claimed that it was looking for an, "amicable" solution to the dispute, it hasn't emerged that PSG has launched a counterclaim to the Judicial Tribunal and alleged that Mbappe actually owes the money to the Parisian side.
"Kylian Mbappé owes PSG money for disloyal tactics that harmed the club," attorney, Renaud Semerdjian, told AFP. "The aim is not to recover the €98 million in this court, but to demonstrate that if he owes us money, his claim is baseless," he added.
PSG’s legal team insisted that the forward failed to present sufficient evidence proving the debt and they have formally appealed the court’s earlier decision that forced them to pay the €55 million. The club is demanding that the seizure be lifted, claiming that the legal basis was insufficient and that the funds were frozen prematurely.
According to Renaud Semerdjian, this amount is being claimed to show that the player’s conduct, specifically, alleged, "delaying tactics," has financially harmed the club. "The goal is not necessarily to recover the €98 million," Semerdjian stated, "but to prove that Mbappe’s claims are unjustified if he, too, owes PSG money."
On Mbappe’s side, lawyer, Thomas Clay, defended the forward’s seizure of the funds, citing concerns about the club’s financial transparency. He pointed to PSG’s close ties with the Qatari state and questioned the risks of non-recovery in such a context:
"Where is the money?" Clay asked. "It was not easy to confiscate it, the banks refused. We are dealing with the sovereign state of Qatar that permanently finances this club. There is a risk of recovery when there is a lack of transparency in the accounts and when we know the difficulties with the states."
The player’s legal representatives have now escalated the matter by involving European football’s governing body, UEFA, as they seek to have PSG’s licence revoked before the start of the new season.
"The process began in February 2024, and since then, PSG has not fulfilled its contractual obligations. In Kylian Mbappe's case, it's no more complicated than that," Mbappe's chief lawyer, Delphine Verheyden, said, as per Goal.
"He joined PSG in the summer of 2017. He signed a contract, which was extended in the spring of 2022, for two seasons with an option. Along the way, there were exchanges, discussions, pressure... we'll come back to all of that."
“The contracts were signed. There were two of them. Have they been fulfilled? Yes. Until the end? Yes. Paid? No. What's missing? €55 million. A decision has been taken, this time to go on the attack."
"Our problem is that the player still hasn't received his payments, and the club is loudly proclaiming that it will not carry out these decisions.
“We are dealing with a club that is not respecting an employment contract, not respecting decisions that are binding on it. So there is no other solution than to go to the next level, that is, seize these sums as a precautionary measure and inform UEFA.
"UEFA is currently reviewing applications for next season. The criteria that clubs must meet to obtain this licence include not having any arrears in payments to their employees, including players. It was our duty to inform UEFA of this."
Meanwhile on the field, PSG are well placed to become the first French side in over 30 years to lift the trophy; this is an awkward time for Mbappe. He risks being the man who joined the current champions of Europe only to discover he was leaving the next champions of Europe.
Theirs is the story of a team that lost arguably the best player in the world but found something in the process. For PSG manager, Luis Enrique, it's vindication. He not only believed that he could improve PSG once Mbappe had departed, he had told everyone exactly that.
"I was very brave last season when I told you we would have a better team in attack and defence," said the former Barcelona coach in February. "I still think we are better in attack and defence, the figures are there to say it. The players took it as a challenge."
PSG have already created more big chances in Ligue 1 than in any of the previous five seasons. "I told you that rather than having a player who scores 40 goals, I wanted players who all score a lot." That is what has happened.
Ousmane Dembele, scorer of only three league goals last season, has 21 in the competition this time around and 33 overall. Bradley Barcola has weighed in with 19 and Desire Doue scoring 13. In Moneyball terms, they replaced Mbappe in the aggregate.
The more damaging message this sends from Mbappe's perspective is what can be achieved when everyone is putting the work in defensively too. It was a point that Luis Enrique laboured last season.
"You have to set that example first as a person and as a player by going to press," said the PSG coach, imploring Mbappe to take his defensive responsibilities seriously, attempting to persuade him by stressing that Michael Jordan had done it in basketball.
"And tracking back so quickly," continued Luis Enrique. "Why? To be a leader. Because you think that you only have to score goals. Of course, you are a world phenomenon, a top-class player - no doubt about it, but that does not work for me," he said, ominously.
"A true leader is when you cannot help us with the goals … you help us with everything related to defensive tasks," he added, before summing up by concluding: "If … you set yourself as an example to press, do you know what we have? A f****** team machine."
Luis Enrique has that now. It was illustrated well when Doue tracked back to shut down an Aston Villa break during the first leg of the quater-final in the Champions League in Paris. In the game at Villa Park, there was some backs-to-the-wall defending but there was also lots of defending from the front to be done.
Mbappe never really grasped that. Perhaps he achieved too much too soon to be convinced of the need. Understandable when you have propelled Monaco to the title at 18, won a World Cup while still a teenager and then scored a hat-trick in the next final.
Presumably, however, winning the Champions League - and the Ballon d'Or that could accompany it - is something that Mbappe is rather keen on. It was one of the reasons for joining the 15-time champions of Europe. Now it's a matter of actually doing it.
Compare the Real Madrid team that won the trophy at Wembley in June to the one well beaten by Arsenal back on the other side of north London. In simplistic terms, Mbappe has come in for Dani Carvajal while others, Fede Valverde included, have had to shift back.
It has left them vulnerable. Mbappe has still scored goals, lots of them. There are some signs of an understanding with Jude Bellingham. If it clicks, it can be beautiful; but there are no guarantees. Yet, because this is Madrid, belief in a potential comeback persists.
If that feels fanciful for Mbappe, it is more like an urgent need. His horror tackle in the game against Alaves, for which he was sent off, suggests that a player accustomed to bending games to his will is feeling that pressure on him to deliver.
It's 16 years since Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Inter to sign for Barcelona, then the reigning champions of Europe, only for the Italian side to not only knock them out but go on to win it themselves. Right now, Mbappe is scrambling just to make the reunion date.
PSG star, Gianluigi Donnarumma has weighed in on the team's transformation since Mbappe's exit and insisted that the side now, "play for each other."
Speaking to Prime Video after the match, Donnarumma said: "The spirit has changed, we are much more of a team. We play for each other. The team is very united, we're doing well together. We (Italy) won a European Championship like this, it makes all the difference in every team."
"We miss Kylian, he is one of the best in the world and I wish him all the best because he is a great friend."
Though both Lionel Messi and Neymar walked away from the French giants in recent years, it has been Mbappe's departure which has hurt fans the most. However, since his exit, PSG have rebuilt their team with some of Europe's most exciting talents - such as Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Bradley Barcola.
Mbappe endured a tough start to life in Spain however, since then, he has gone on to display his prolific talents and scored 38 goals from 52 games in all competitions. Despite his best efforts, Madrid could go trophyless in Mbappe's debut season - having lost in the Copa del Rey final; been knocked out the Champions League and are currently trailing league leaders Barcelona by 7 points and with 3 games remaining.
I don't like it when sporting disputes go to court. It's a never-ending battle that can lead to a real mess. This could go on for years. I don't understand why they can't meet to make an out-of-court settlement. These issues can be quite confusing at times and hard to follow.
As to the footballing side, it doesn't surprise me. Superstars believe that they don't have to do any of the dirty work. It can be difficult to plan a strategy that solely benefits the superstar. Football is a team sport and hence requires the entire team to contribute.
Life can get easier when the superstar leaves. There will be no need to plan the plays around him/her. Everyone will then be much happier.