A Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) legal commission recommended mediation between Paris Saint-Germain and Kylian Mbappe to resolve a contract dispute over the player’s unpaid salary.
Mbappe formally contacted the LFP in order to seek the payment of €55million (£46.4m; $60.6m) which had been withheld by PSG before his departure from the club on June 30. PSG argue this was justified on the basis of financial agreements made between the player and the club last summer. Mbappe also accused PSG of moral harassment.
The 25-year-old, however, has reportedly rejected the proposal of mediation, according to AFP. While the LFP legal commission made their recommendation, it is ultimately up to the parties to pursue it independently. Rejecting mediation would mean Mbappe’s next course of action would be to take the case to an employment tribunal, if he chooses to do so.
Mbappe’s representatives have been approached for comment by The Athletic.
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During a two-hour hearing on Wednesday, which involved an 18-person panel, the LFP legal commission concluded that both parties should enter mediation to resolve the matter.
In a statement, PSG said: “Paris Saint-Germain is very pleased with today’s two-hour hearing before the commission. The club recalled that the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that must be respected, having been afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven fantastic years in Paris.
“In light of the club’s oral and documented arguments, the commission insisted on mediation between the parties, which PSG has been seeking for many months. The commission has now invited the player to consider the mediation process.”
The disagreement between the parties stems from a dispute over Mbappe’s contract and his departure, fundamentally on the basis of whether he would be able to leave PSG “for free”. This escalated last summer when Mbappe informed PSG that he did not intend to exercise a one-year contract extension, meaning he would depart on a free transfer in 2024.
At the time, PSG put Mbappe up for sale and the player was excluded from first-team training and the club’s pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea. He was then reintegrated into the squad after an agreement was reached with the club. In January, Mbappe said the agreement “managed to protect all the parties”.
It is the nature of this agreement that has become a point of contention.
Mbappe played for PSG between 2018 and 2024 (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
In a letter sent to Mbappe’s lawyer Delphine Verheyden, PSG allege that Mbappe’s legal representation proposed an agreement on August 11, 2023, which would see Mbappe reduce his bonuses by €55m during the 2023-24 season, a figure reported in L’Equipe. This led to the player’s reintegration into Luis Enrique’s squad on August 12, but this proposal was not signed nor sent to the league, as would be required under the French Football Charter.
PSG claim that the reason this was not signed was because of a verbal agreement between the club’s president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Mbappe. This agreement, they argue, was witnessed by head coach Luis Enrique and sporting director Luis Campos, and included two scenarios. One where Mbappe extended his contract but departed for a transfer fee worth at least €180m (£152m; $198m) in the summer of 2024, with Mbappe receiving a loyalty bonus worth €82m (£69.2m; $90.3m), and another that he would depart in June 2024 on a free transfer but would “revise downwards his remuneration conditions for the 2023-2024 season in line with the return on investment provided for in Case No 1”. In other words, in line with the amount the club would expect to receive from a transfer.
Either scenario would have entitled PSG to €98m (£82.7m; $108m) return on investment, exceeding the amount Mbappe is currently pursuing. Should the case proceed to an employment tribunal, PSG may pursue this larger sum.
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Without any other approved agreements, French labour law protects Mbappe’s right to receive his salary, and legal experts have noted that withholding wages may violate these protections.
“In French law, the salary must be paid every month,” explained Deborah David, an employment law specialist with De Gaulle Fleurance, to The Athletic in July. “It is not possible to withhold salary, even if it is to offset the final payment.”
Mbappe eventually joined Real Madrid on a free transfer in July, with the deal being announced in June.
In 2022, Madrid had attempted to sign Mbappe as his previous contract with PSG neared its expiration, but he chose to renew with PSG. That extension included a clause for a 12-month option into the 2024-25 season, which could only be triggered by Mbappe himself, not PSG.
In February, Mbappe notified PSG that he would not activate the additional year in his contract, confirming to his team-mates and Luis Enrique that he would leave as a free agent at the end of last season.
(Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
