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Kylian Mbappé has instructed lawyers to issue a wave of legal action to recover € 55m of French football star claims he owes to unpaid salaries and rewards from his former Paris Saint-Germain.
The dispute derives from the 2024 MBappé Accreditation Movement at Spanish Giants Real Madrid, a year after he was temporarily removed from PSG, which he claims to throw him out of the team after he refused to extend his contract at the club.
At a press conference in Paris, announcing criminal and civil costumes, one of Mbappé’s lawyers Thomas Clay said: “I remind you that Kylian Mbappé is the captain of the French national team, he is the top scorer in the club’s history and that he owes little recognition: that is to be paid.”
Another of his lawyers, Delphine Verheyden, said it was “the time to go to the attack” against PSG, adding that a Paris Civil Court had given an order to temporarily freeze € 55m of the club’s assets.
The legal campaign reveals the deep Akrimonia it has built between the captain of the French football team and PSG, the France’s primary club.
PSG owned by Qatar said that the version of the events presented by Mbappé, who shot in global importance at the age of 19, when he played a key role in the World Cup victory in France 2018, existed in a “parallel universe of fantastic story”.
“PSG continues to not understand why Kylian Mbappé is refusing a friendly resolution, while … Still refusing to take his case in the Labor Court which is the only court competent to resolve the dispute,” the club added.
Lawyers for Mbappé, who became the second most valuable player of all time when the club signed it for 180m in 2017, said they had also filed a complaint with the French Football Federation, asking her to notify UEFA, the governing body of European football, that he owed unpaid salaries.
They claim that this can lead to PSG to stop playing in the Champions League, the most lucrative club competition in Europe. A person close to PSG minimized the possibility. UEFA refused to comment.
Mbappé’s lawyers said they also planned to set up a dispute in the labor courts.
Mbappé claims that after he confirmed in February 2024 that he would leave PSG, the French club refused to pay it from April to June 2024, when he signed for Real Madrid in a free transfer.
PSG has said the player had agreed to give up his salaries. While the club denies owing the money, a person acquainted with the matter said he had set aside € 55m if he was ordered to pay.
One of Mbappé’s lawyers said the player, widely regarded as one of the best in the world, also intended to file a criminal complaint against PSG for “moral harassment” with France’s public prosecutors in the coming days. The player claims that PSG’s decision to exclude it in 2023 was a form of extortion to make it sign a new contract.
Separately, Mbappé’s lawyers said they are taking action against X and Meta in a criminal court on alleged slanderous posts of social media for him and his mother who were related to his wage.
X refused to comment. Meta did not immediately respond to a comment request.
PSG has continued to dominate the French club football since Mbappé’s departure, winning the local league this season and this week beating the English team Aston Villa in the first match of the Champions League quarter -finals.
